process
Hostages of the Halle attacker report fear of death
Justice officers remove the handcuffs from the defendant in the courtroom. photo
© Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa
They knew who they were dealing with in prison: the Halle assassin, who once built his own weapons. Two prison officers now report how they became his hostages in prison.
In the trial against the Halle attacker for taking hostages in the prison in Burg, two law enforcement officers reported what happened. “I had Fear of death,” said a 26-year-old official in the Magdeburg regional court.
He described how the defendant was dressed warmly and standing in the cell door with what was supposed to be a weapon held at waist height when he was about to be locked in for the night. The 32-year-old said he wanted to get out now. He triggered the alarm and brought the prisoner to the free time yard, said the prison officer. A shot was also fired. Another officer also reported fear of death. The Halle attacker’s attempt to escape failed.
Review of the attack in Halle
At the start of the trial on Thursday last week, Stephan Balliet confessed to the hostage-taking on December 12, 2022. His goal was to be free.
Balliet was sentenced to life imprisonment and subsequent preventive detention in December 2020 for the racist and anti-Semitic attack in Halle – the maximum sentence. On October 9, 2019, the highest Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, he tried to storm the synagogue in Halle and cause a massacre. When he failed, he murdered two people near the synagogue.
Process with special safety precautions
Because Balliet is considered an extreme security risk, the process takes place under special security precautions. The Stendal regional court hears cases in the largest courtroom in Saxony-Anhalt in Magdeburg. The spectator area is separated by safety glass. During the trial, masked special judicial officers in full protective equipment sat behind the defendant.
The defendant appeared on the second day of the trial with a black eye, which he reportedly inflicted on himself. He followed the witness statements with apparent interest.