Life in prison: verdict after ICE train attacks

Two years ago an Iraqi wanted to derail trains in Bavaria and Berlin with a steel cable. Now an Austrian court has convicted the 44-year-old man of attempted murder. He acted with an Islamist motive.

After a series of Islamist attacks on ICE trains on the Munich-Nuremberg route, a 44-year-old Iraqi was sentenced to life in prison in Vienna. The jury was convinced that the man had acted on behalf of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia, the Austrian news agency APA reported. His wife was acquitted before the Vienna Regional Court. She had denied knowing the facts.

The man was convicted of multiple assassination attempts as a terrorist offense, serious property damage as a terrorist offense, and membership in a terrorist organization. The decisions are not yet final.

Steel cable stretched on the ICE route

In 2018, the Iraqi tried with wedges and a steel cable to carry out several attacks on trains on the ICE route between Munich and Nuremberg. Also in Berlin he tried to derail a train. However, he failed with his project.

It only remained due to technical errors that the man had made, with material damage to the locomotives. No one was injured. The Iraqi who lives in Vienna as a recognized refugee confessed the facts. But he denied any killing intent and terrorist background. “He wanted to get attention,” said his defense attorney. Their objective was to withdraw foreign troops from Iraq.