Trial in Dortmund
Toxic attack planned: detention and preventive detention
The defendant hides his face under a hood and a medical mask in the Dortmund regional court. photo
© Bernd Thissen/dpa
A terrorist suspect from Iran has been convicted eleven months after his arrest in Castrop-Rauxel. The judges are convinced that he was determined to carry out a terrorist attack.
Eleven months after a spectacular anti-terror operation Castrop-Rauxel, the Dortmund regional court handed down the verdict against a 26-year-old Iranian. The defendant was sentenced to four years in prison followed by preventive detention. “He was determined to carry out a terrorist attack using toxic substances,” said presiding judge Dirk Kienitz in his verdict.
The young man was arrested along with his brother in January after a tip from an intelligence service. Chats with several people who are said to be close to the Islamic State brought the Iranians’ attention to terrorist investigators.
During the trial, it emerged that the man had actually received instructions on how to produce the poisonous substances ricin and cyanide. Plus, he had already started gathering the necessary ingredients. In the chats it was said in several places that the attack was to be carried out on New Year’s Eve 2022. Until that day, the 26-year-old didn’t have all the ingredients together.
“Instructions unusable,” but the defendant didn’t know that
In fact, from the judge’s point of view, there was never any real danger. “The instructions were unusable,” said the verdict. Several experts have confirmed this.
According to the judges, the defendant did not know this, but believed until the end that he could produce the toxic substances. Therefore, one must see him as a danger to the general public, said the presiding judge. Preventive detention after imprisonment is absolutely necessary to protect the population. The man’s brother is no longer under investigation.
The verdict is not yet legally binding. The defendant has the opportunity to appeal.