The court applied the controversial concept of 'voluntary withdrawal' despite the brutality of the attack
For the justice system, the mere fact that the immigrant stopped stabbing and left would have constituted a renunciation of killing, even though he did nothing to help the victim or ensure her survival. According to the doctrine itself, only when the striker believes he has already done everything necessary to cause death is a real "counteract" required to save the victim. In this case, the court understood that this threshold had not been reached.
The criterion had already been harshly questioned weeks earlier, when it was applied in the case of Iris Stalze, the Social Democratic mayor who was brutally attacked by her adoptive daughter. Now, the repetition of the same interpretation reignites the debate about a criminal justice system that, far from protecting citizens, seems to dilute the responsibility of offenders.
The teacher miraculously survived and was discharged three days later, with no permanent physical aftereffects. However, her life was marked: she stated that she can no longer go out alone, that her mobility is affected by fear, and that her daily life has become unbearable. "My life has changed completely," she told investigators.
The assailant had entered Europe in 2018 after fleeing Afghanistan and lived on social benefits. After passing through several countries, he applied for asylum in Germany, where he returned in 2023. His arrest was carried out after he robbed a bank branch; there it was discovered that his DNA matched that from the attack on the teacher.
Germany's justice system has once again become the center of controversy following a ruling that drastically reduced the severity of an almost fatal attack. A 29-year-old Afghan immigrant was sentenced to only six years in prison for stabbing a 27-year-old teacher six times in broad daylight in Kirchheim unter Teck, as the court determined there was no "attempted murder."
The incident occurred at midday, when the teacher was returning home after work. According to the investigation's reconstruction, the assailant approached her from behind, grabbed her by the neck, and attacked her with a knife with a blade almost ten centimeters (3.9 inches) long. The woman received four stab wounds to her back and two to her thigh before she was able to scream for help, at which point the striker fled. His refusal to acknowledge the facts was discredited by DNA evidence found on his clothing and on the weapon.
Despite the violence and randomness of the attack, the Stuttgart court dismissed the charge of attempted murder. The reason was the application of a controversial doctrine in German criminal law known as "voluntary withdrawal," which allows for a reduction in the classification of the crime if the perpetrator abandons the conduct before "completing" the objective.
