Berlin (dpa/sn) – The victims’ representatives of the federal government as well as Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia have recalled the knife attack on two tourists on the 2020 unity weekend in Dresden and condemned it as a “brutal and senseless act”. The Islamist attack “caused immeasurable suffering,” said Federal Government Commissioner Pascal Kober, according to a statement on Monday. Anniversaries of such events are often particularly painful for those affected. That is why commemoration is important. People who “were met on behalf of our open, diverse and free society” are not alone.
In addition to prevention, deradicalisation and effective danger prevention and the fight against extremism and terrorist violence, “we are focusing on the situation of the victims and those affected,” added his Saxon colleague Iris Kloppich. “It is important to us to represent their interests decisively.” It is also about showing “that the act is not and will not be forgotten,” said Elisabeth Auchter-Mainz, commissioner for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
On October 4, 2020, a young Syrian stabbed two tourists from Cologne in the old town of Dresden because of their homosexual orientation. A 55-year-old died, his partner barely survived. The perpetrator, who was considered an Islamist threat, had admitted everything to an expert. In May 2021, the 21-year-old was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, attempted murder and dangerous bodily harm, and the particular severity of the guilt was also determined.
