Trial begins over Halle murders
IF THERE were any doubts about the motivations of the man accused of murder and attempted murder in an attack on the Halle synagogue last Yom Kippur, the defendant laid those doubts to rest at the start of his trial.
On Tuesday, Stephan Balliet, 28, told the district court in Magdeburg that he had wanted to kill Jews, specifically on a Jewish holiday, because they “are the main cause of white genocide and want to create a new world order”.
The incident took place last October 9. Some 50 worshippers were in the synagogue in Halle, in the former East German state of Saxony-Anhalt, when the assailant, wearing combat gear, began shooting into the locked doors. When his tactic failed, he shot a woman passerby dead and later killed a man at a nearby kebab shop. He filmed and livestreamed the attack, some of which was also captured on the synagogue surveillance camera.
In answering the court’s questions, Balliet said he had been angry since 2015 about Germany’s acceptance of refugees from Muslim countries.
He started assembling a stash of weapons and chose the synagogue as his target. He said felt he had “failed terribly” when he was unable to shoot its doors open.
VHe added that he was sorry for having killed a female passerby, because he “didn’t mean to kill any white people.” Addressing a crowd outside the courtroom as the first day concluded, a survivor of the attack, Rabbi Rebecca Blady, executive director of Hillel Germany and co-founder of Base Berlin, said the trial should open “a new path toward justice” in Germany.
“This country is putting a white supremacist on trial… a man who tried to kill me and my family, members of my community and other minority communities.” Ultimately, he “succeeded in his quest for murder and killed two people, Jana L and Kevin S,” Blady said. Her statement was shared on Facebook (www.facebook. com/rebecca.blady)
“We must stand together against this perpetrator and elevate the stories of his victims. We must bear witness to the fact that hateful ideology is fatal,” she added.
In a statement at the start of the trial, the Central Council of Jews in Germany called on the court to deliver a “clear judgment” in order to send a “strong signal against violence and right-wing extremism in Germany.”
Balliet faces a life sentence if convicted.
In Germany, a jailed convict usually may apply for parole after 15 years.