2016 Hanover stabbing explained

The Hanover stabbing that occurred on 26 February 2016 was a terrorist stabbing of a police officer in Hanover, Germany, by a 15-year-old girl born to a Moroccan mother and a German father. She had been raised under the influence of salafist preachings, as early as 7 years. She had been investigated by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution for preparing a serious crime already in 2014 and had traveled to meet ISIS members in Istanbul in November 2015. It was the first reported attack by an ISIS sympathiser in Germany.

Incident

On 26 February 2016, two police officers approached a 15-year-old and asked for her identification papers.[1] The girl stabbed a police officer in the back of the neck at Hanover Central Station, causing severe injuries. The officer survived after surgery.[2] [3] After her arrest, police found a second and larger knife.[4] This was the first reported lone-wolf terrorist attack by a sympathizer of the Islamic State in Germany.[5]

Perpetrator

The 15-year-old perpetrator was born in Hanover to a Moroccan mother and a German father who converted to Islam. At age 7, she appeared in a video reciting the Quran with the German Salafist preacher Pierre Vogel.[6]

In 2014, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany's domestic intelligence agency, started investigating the girl for preparing a serious crime in 2014;[7]

NDR television reported that the day after the November 2015 Paris attacks she described it as the "happiest day of my life", adding: "Allah bless our lions".[7] According to a Deutsche Welle report, a family member called authorities expressing concerns over radicalisation, and police met with the family days later.In November 2015, the perpetrator traveled to Istanbul where she met members of ISIL, who planned to help her with entry into Syria. In January 2016 she returned to Germany. In January 2017, it was reported in court that orders to carry out a "martyrdom attack" in Germany were given.[8]

Trial and sentencing

The trial began in October 2016; the press were banned due to the accused being a minor.[9] Safia S. was convicted of attempted murder, helping a terrorist organization, and of grievous bodily harm, and was sentenced to 6 years in prison.[10]

Accomplice

Mohamad Hasan K., a man born in Syria, was accused of being an accomplice of Safia. S. and of planning a separate terror attack in 2015.[11] As co-defendant of Safia S.,[12] he was sentenced to 2.5 years in jail as he knew of the attack but failed to alert the government.[13]

See also

Notes and References

  1. 2017. EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2017. EU Terrorism Situation & Trend Report (Te-Sat). Europol. 23. 978-92-95200-79-1.
  2. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38757039 German girl jailed for IS attack in Hannover
  3. News: German prosecutors: Teen who stabbed cop 'supported IS'. 6 June 2017. DW. 15 April 2016.
  4. 2017. EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report (TE-SAT) 2017. EU Terrorism Situation & Trend Report (Te-Sat). Europol. 22–28, 33–35, 52. 978-92-95200-79-1.
  5. News: Dearden. Lizzie. Teenage girl jailed for stabbing police officer in Germany's first Isis-commissioned attack. 28 January 2017. 16 June 2017. The Independent.
  6. News: Neue Pierre-Vogel-Videos mit Safia S. aufgetaucht. 4 September 2017. NDY.de. 9 September 2016.
  7. News: 20 January 2017 . ISIS-obsessed German teen girl faces jail for slitting cop's throat . Toronto Sun . 24 June 2017 . Following the terror attacks in Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people, Safia wrote: "Yesterday was the happiest day of my life, Allah bless our lions, who were in action in Paris yesterday.".
  8. News: German Court Jails Girl Who Stabbed Policeman in Name of ISIS. 6 June 2017. Reuters. Newsweek. 26 January 2017.
  9. News: Pabst. Sabrina. From Hanover to IS: The case of Safia S.. 6 June 2017. DW. 19 October 2017.
  10. News: Lizzie Dearden. Teenage girl jailed for stabbing police officer in Germany's first Isis-commissioned attack. 24 June 2017. The Independent. a court in the northern city of Celle convicted her of attempted murder, helping a terrorist organisation and grievous bodily harm. Her lawyer said he would appeal the six-year prison sentence.
  11. News: German prosecutors demand jail term for alleged IS member Safia S.. 24 June 2017. Deutsche Welle. 19 January 2017. A 20-year-old German man of Syrian origin, Mohamad Hasan K., was also accused of being her accomplice and planning a terror attack that led to a football game being canceled in Hanover in 2015..
  12. News: German girl gets six-year term for IS police stabbing. 24 June 2017. AFP-JIJI. 26 January 2017. Her co-defendant in the trial, 20-year-old Mohamad Hasan K., was found to have known about the planned attack, without reporting it. He was handed a juvenile sentence of two years and six months..
  13. News: German girl jailed for IS attack in Hanover. 24 June 2017. BBC. 26 January 2017. Mohamad Hasan K, was jailed for two and a half years on Thursday because he knew of the planned attack but failed to alert authorities..

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