Halle shooting: Trial begins for Germany synagogue attack suspect
Source: BBC
Halle shooting: Trial begins for Germany synagogue attack suspect
By Jenny Hill
BBC Berlin correspondent
21 July 2020
The trial has begun of a suspect accused of killing two people after an attack on a synagogue in the German city of Halle last year.
Stefan Balliet appeared in court in Magdeburg wearing a face mask because of the coronavirus pandemic.
If convicted, he faces life in prison.
The attack
It was the holiest day of the Jewish year.
On 9 October 2019, a cantor at a synagogue in Halle was leading worshippers in prayer to mark Yom Kippur when he glanced at a CCTV monitor and saw a gunman trying to shoot his way into the building.
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Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53471496
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Source:
Agence France-Presse
German man goes on trial for deadly Halle synagogue shooting
Agence France-Presse in Magdeburg
Tue 21 Jul 2020 12.24 BST
First published on Tue 21 Jul 2020 08.42 BST
A German man has gone on trial for a deadly shooting that targeted Jewish people in the eastern city of Halle last year, one of the worst acts of antisemitic violence in Germanys postwar history.
Stephan Balliet, 28, is accused of shooting dead two people in October after he tried and failed to storm a synagogue. He has been charged with two counts of murder and multiple counts of attempted murder.
Prosecutors say Balliet used explosives and firearms to try to gain access to the synagogue, where 52 worshippers were celebrating Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.
After failing to break through the locked wooden door, he shot dead a female passerby and a man in a nearby kebab shop. He filmed the assault and livestreamed it on the internet.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/21/german-man-goes-on-trial-for-deadly-halle-synagogue-shooting-stephan-balliet