Munich car attack trial: Prosecution demands life sentence, defense cites schizophrenia

The attack

In February 2025, a 25-year-old Afghan man drove a car into a Verdi union demonstration near Munich's central station. A mother and her two-year-old daughter in a stroller were killed, and numerous other participants were injured, some critically. The defendant, Farhad N., was arrested at the scene.

Charges and trial

The Federal Prosecutor's Office charged Farhad N. with two counts of murder, 22 counts of attempted murder, and multiple counts of dangerous bodily injury. The trial at the Munich Higher Regional Court has now reached closing arguments, with the prosecution presenting its case on 28 July 2026 and the defense responding the following day.

Prosecution's demand

In a two-hour plea, the prosecution demanded life imprisonment and a finding of particular severity of guilt, a legal designation that would make early release after 15 years extremely difficult. The prosecutors argued the act was deliberate and aimed at destroying human life.

“The act was, one must say it so clearly, aimed at the destruction of human life.”

They cited religious motives, pointing to the defendant's consumption of Islamist preacher videos shortly before the attack and his display of the index finger gesture, a symbol used by extremists, on the first day of trial. A court-appointed psychiatric expert diagnosed a medium-grade personality disorder but found no acute psychosis, so the prosecution sees full criminal responsibility.

Defense's counter-argument

On 29 July, the defense argued for a 15-year prison sentence and placement in a psychiatric facility. They claimed the defendant suffers from hebephrenic schizophrenia, a form of the illness that they say broke through during the crime.

“The defendant suffers from hebephrenic schizophrenia, and this broke through in the commission of the crime and led to terrible suffering and the death of two people.”

The defense stressed that the court is not bound by the expert's assessment and urged the judges to consider the psychiatric diagnosis.

Victims' voices

Representatives of the victims' families used their closing statements to condemn the defendant. One lawyer described him as cowardly, lacking empathy, intellectually limited, and burdened with complexes. The family of the deceased mother and child also expressed their anger, calling him a small, unempathetic man with a small ego who had achieved little in life.

What's next

The court will now deliberate. No date has been set for the verdict.