The perpetrator of the Magdeburg attack has reportedly demonstrated little remorse or empathy for the victims. In a letter to “Welt am Sonntag” he instead complained about what he described as poor prison conditions. He cited forced surveillance as a form of “torture” and detailed having slept on a hard mattress following his arrest. Furthermore, he stated he was monitored through a glass partition and via camera.
These statements have been met with distress by those affected by the attack. One victim told “Welt am Sonntag” “I feel this as a catastrophe and as a renewed attack on my life”. Another expressed the feeling that the perpetrator has more rights than the victims.
Holger Stahlknecht, an attorney and former Interior Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, expressed his dismay. “The perpetrator acted without any empathy. To lament over allegedly poor detention conditions after having killed numerous people and injured many more, is a slap in the face of the victims. It demonstrates that the perpetrator feels no remorse, is self-focused and lacks empathy.
Thomas Klaus, a colleague of Stahlknecht representing other victims of the attack, concurred. He emphasized that the perpetrator, responsible for the deaths of six individuals and the injury of hundreds, including many children, appears unable to express even a flicker of regret. He criticized the perpetrator for centering himself and portraying himself as a victim through his complaints about prison conditions. Klaus suggested that this behavior represents either a “perfidious provocation” of the actual victims or reflects a profound inability to show compassion.
