A German court is to hand down its verdict Monday on a deadly attack in Halle last year that nearly became the country's worst anti-Semitic atrocity since World War II.
A bolted door at the eastern city's synagogue with 52 worshippers inside marking Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, was the only thing that prevented a heavily armed assailant from carrying out a planned bloodbath, prosecutors say.
After failing to storm the temple on October 9, 2019, the attacker shot dead a female passer-by and a man at a kebab shop instead.
During his five-month trial, far-right defendant Stephan Balliet, 28, has denied the Holocaust in open court -- a crime in Germany -- and expressed no remorse to those targeted, many of whom are co-plaintiffs in the case.
"The attack on the synagogue in Halle was one of the most repulsive anti-Semitic acts since World War II," prosecutor Kai Lohse told the court in the nearby eastern city of Magdeburg as the trial wrapped up.
The prosecution has demanded life in prison for Balliet. His defense team has asked presiding judge Ursula Mertens only for a "fair sentence". READ MORE
