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Syrian Asylum Seeker Pleads Guilty as Solingen Knife Attack Trial Opens

The months-long Düsseldorf court proceedings, triggered by his admission, will test Germany’s tightened security measures for asylum seekers.

Issa al H., a Syrian national suspected of stabbing to death three people at a festival in the German city of Solingen in 2024, sits at the beginning of his trial in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 27, 2025. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
Issa al H., a Syrian national suspected of stabbing to death three people at a festival in the German city of Solingen in 2024, sits at the beginning of his trial in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 27, 2025. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
Issa al H., a Syrian national suspected of stabbing to death three people at a festival in the German city of Solingen in 2024, walks at the beginning of his trial in Duesseldorf, Germany, May 27, 2025. REUTERS/Leon Kuegeler
The attack in Solingen, western Germany, left three dead and 10 injured

Overview

  • Issa Al H., 27, acknowledged killing three people and wounding ten in the August 23 knife attack at Solingen’s Festival of Diversity.
  • The trial is scheduled through late September with over 50 witnesses set to testify and prosecutors seeking a life sentence plus preventive detention.
  • Prosecutors allege he carried out the assault at the behest of Islamic State, although he has not formally admitted extremist ties.
  • Investigators highlight that he evaded a planned 2023 deportation to Bulgaria after arriving in Germany as an asylum seeker.
  • In response to the attack, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition approved a security package enforcing faster deportations and stricter supervision of potential threats.