A Syrian man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a stabbing attack in the western German city of Solingen in August 2024, which left three people dead and ten others injured. Issa al-Hasan, 27, was convicted by a court in Düsseldorf, which found he acted out of “treacherous and base motives” linked to his radical Islamic beliefs.
Al-Hasan, who arrived in Germany as a refugee in 2022, had been a member of the Islamic State group. Prosecutors said he carried out the attack during a festival marking Solingen’s 650th anniversary, targeting “unbelievers” in the crowd as part of a “holy war”. Before the attack, he contacted an Islamic State handler on Telegram and recorded a video pledging allegiance, wielding a meat cleaver and threatening to “dismember” people.
The attack significantly influenced Germany’s election campaign, boosting support for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland and prompting then opposition leader Friedrich Merz to focus on stricter migration controls. Al-Hasan had applied for asylum to avoid military conscription in Syria.
During the trial, eyewitnesses described the horror of the attack. A 58-year-old man, identified only as Michael W, told the court how his wife Ines, a 56-year-old pharmacist, bled to death in his arms after being stabbed in the neck. Two men, aged 56 and 67, also died. Al-Hasan was reported to have shouted “Allahu Akbar” during the assault.
Al-Hasan initially expressed remorse, stating he deserved a life sentence, but later adopted a more confrontational stance, justifying the attack as retaliation for German arms sales to Israel during the Gaza conflict. The court imposed preventive detention, meaning al-Hasan is unlikely ever to be released, despite a standard 15-year minimum for life sentences in Germany.
