A 28-year-old man who confessed to carrying out a 2019 terrorist attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, has been handed a life sentence by a German court. A regional court in Naumburg determined that, once Stephan Balliet had served out the 15-year sentence, he would be subject to preventive detention. This is the maximum penalty available under German law and the decision cannot be appealed. The lead judge in the case, Ursula Mertens, referred to the incident as a “cowardly attack” and acknowledged the special gravity of the crime. Balliet, who responded to the verdict without emotion, has …
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New York, December 21, 2020 … ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) welcomed today’s verdict of a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for the white supremacist terrorist who attacked the synagogue in Halle, Germany on Yom Kippur last year, murdering two people outside the synagogue.
“Today’s verdict of a maximum sentence of life imprisonment will keep the Jewish community safe from this particular white supremacist terrorist and will hopefully send a strong signal of deterrence to those who harbor the same, vile antisemitic beliefs,” said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt.
Two bystanders were murdered by the assailant after failing to penetrate the door of the synagogue, where he intended to massacre the 50 Jews inside worshipping on Yom Kippur.
“To prevent more white supremacist terror attacks in Europe and around the globe, attention must be given to the hate that drives this violence and to the spread of this hate through white supremacist networks across the world,” Greenblatt said. “This terrorist spoke openly of his inspiration by other white supremacist terrorists, who openly share their manifestos and messages.”