After an investigation by MDR, a German public broadcaster, into statements made by Magdeburg attacker Taleb al-Abdulmohsen at his workplace, the Medical Director of the Maßregelvollzug Bernburg has been released from his duties. This was announced by the state-owned Salus gGmbH, which operates the institution.
Abdulmohsen had been employed at Salus, a non-profit organization for social institutions in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, since 2020 as a station doctor in the Maßregelvollzug in Bernburg, where he cared for three stations of prisoners with psychiatric issues.
According to a mail presented to MDR, Abdulmohsen had already hinted to colleagues in August 2024 that he was “in a war where the outcome would be either death or killing” the public broadcaster reported.
On Thursday, the Salus supervisory board had dealt with Abdulmohsen’s statements and the management’s handling of the matter. “The reference to the behavior of the later attacker, as well as the corresponding email, had surfaced at the beginning of February and were a surprise to the managing director of Salus gGmbH, according to his own statement” MDR reported.
As part of a “thorough investigation” the company’s justice department has been entrusted with an internal special audit. This will involve a complete examination of all communication flows in connection with Abdulmohsen, with his colleagues to be questioned and an anonymous tip-off portal to be set up.
Additionally, external experts will be called in to clarify whether any knowledge of possible psychological abnormalities of the attacker existed and what psychiatric assessment he had undergone.
According to MDR’s research, the Medical Director had been informed by mail about the significant statements from Abdulmohsen immediately after the August 2024 incident.
“Ten days later, at the end of August, the director had a ‘patient follow-up conversation’ with Taleb A, in which the later attacker showed no signs of self- or third-party danger. This had ended the matter for the management of the Maßregelvollzug” MDR reported.
The preliminary release of the Medical Director explicitly did not constitute a pre-judgment, Salus emphasized in a press release. The background was internal investigations. The goal was to protect the Medical Director and the investigations.
Abdulmohsen had driven a car through a rescue lane into the Magdeburg Christmas market on the evening of December 20 and then drove at high speed through the crowd, killing six people and injuring nearly 300. He was immediately arrested by the police after the rampage.