The Duisburg district court issued an arrest warrant against the previously convicted Islamist Tarik S. on Wednesday afternoon. The Central Office for the Prosecution of Terrorism at the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the 29-year-old accused on suspicion of having declared his willingness to commit “murder and manslaughter”: The man made “sufficiently specific statements to a chat partner in Syria about committing an Islamist-motivated attack agreed,” it said in a statement. According to SZ information, investigators had previously secured relevant information on the suspect’s cell phone; The chat partner is known to be a supporter of the terrorist organization “Islamic State” (IS).
Tarik S. was arrested in Duisburg on Tuesday afternoon. Around fifty special forces from the Essen police headquarters searched the suspect’s apartment that same evening. A foreign secret service alerted the North Rhine-Westphalia authorities. Tarik S. was no stranger: He had traveled to Syria in 2013 and joined IS. After his return in 2016, he was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison in 2017 for membership in a terrorist organization.
The accused may have wanted to drive a truck into a crowd
Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) confirmed in Düsseldorf on Wednesday that the Islamist had apparently prepared an attack on a pro-Israel demonstration. According to the current status of the investigation, the man had not yet chosen a date or a specific location for his alleged plan until his arrest. Investigators said the suspect had considered driving a truck into a crowd.
A lawyer for the accused explained on Wednesday opposite the Rhenish Post, he assumes his client is innocent. Tarik S. also successfully took part in a de-radicalization program.
Interior Minister Reul said on Wednesday that the North Rhine-Westphalia security authorities had “permanently” kept an eye on the suspect since he served his prison sentence. So far it has been assumed that Tarik S. should be viewed as a lone perpetrator. In view of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist militias, Reul spoke of an “abstract danger”: “We have to expect that a lone perpetrator is on the move somewhere at any time.”