The perpetrator of the Magdeburg attack has reportedly shown little remorse or empathy towards the victims.
In a letter to the German newspaper “Welt am Sonntag” he instead complained about what he perceived as poor prison conditions. He cited “torture through surveillance” claiming he was forced to sleep on a hard mattress and was constantly monitored via glass partitions and cameras.
These statements have been described as unbearable by victims of the attack. One individual told “Welt am Sonntag” “I find this catastrophic and a renewed attack on my life”. Another expressed feeling that the perpetrator had more rights than those affected by the tragedy.
Holger Stahlknecht, an attorney representing the victims and a former Interior Minister of Saxony-Anhalt (CDU), expressed outrage. He stated that the perpetrator acted “without any empathy” and that complaining about prison conditions after killing and injuring numerous people was “a slap in the face of the victims”. He emphasized that it demonstrated a lack of remorse and an unemotional disposition.
Thomas Klaus, a colleague attorney also representing the victims, echoed this sentiment. He highlighted that the individual killed six people and injured hundreds more, including many children, yet seemed unable to express even a trace of regret. Klaus observed that the perpetrator’s complaints were either “a perfidious provocation of the actual injured parties” or reflected an inability to show compassion.