In Germany, a girl of the age 16 has been thrown in jail for an attack that is the first of its kind in the country. The girl is said to be a sympathizer of the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
At the time of the incident, Safia S, was 15 years of age. She attacked and stabbed a police officer in the neck, seriously wounding him, in Hanover. Prosecutors of the crime stated that it was supervised and order by IS.
Safia S was convicted of helping a terrorist organization and attempted murder. The German-Moroccan girl was found guilty of "grievous body harm". The defense called for a lesser sentence and for her to be cleared of all other charges.
In alliance with the attack, 20-years old Mohamad Hasan K was jailed on Thursday as he knew about the planned attack but did not step forward and inform the authorities. His sentence stretches to two and a half years.
The 34-year old policeman was stabbed by Safia S last year on Feb. 26. The incident took place only weeks after the girl flew to Istanbul, Turkey to join the IS in Syria. Her mother is reported to have brought her back, but, the girl continued connections with the jihadist group over the internet.
Messages on her phone were cited by the judge as evidence that the attack was orchestrated by the IS. According to BBC, one of the texts was send to Mohamad Hasan K right after the brutal Paris attacks on Nov. 13 in 2015 that read: "Allah bless our lions who carried out an operation in Paris yesterday".
The security footage at the Hanover station shows the girl staring at two police officers. She lunged at one of them with a knife right after they asked to see any identification documents.
Later, the girl apologized for the attack by writing to the police force. She repeated her apology during her trial. The legal team defending her stated that the verdict against her would be appealed. The authorities were warned by her family that their daughter had become "radicalized". Lawyer Mutlu Guenal, on the other hand, argued that "the real failure lay with police".
German privacy laws ban the publicizing of defendants' surnames. Additionally, Safia S's age compelled the Celle regional court to hear her case behind closed doors.
