MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In October, Reker, who was then a candidate for the post of the mayor, received a severe stab wound in the neck. Another four people were injured while trying to stop the attacker. Reker was then responsible for the accommodation of refugees in Cologne. After the attack, she was in critical condition and spent several days in an artificial coma.
"He intended to send a signal against the federal government's immigration policy. He wanted to create an atmosphere of fear and to influence policy," presiding judge Barbara Havliza said, as quoted by the Spiegel magazine.
According to the publication, the convicted once spent three years in prison over a series of violent acts.
On New Year's Eve, hundreds of women in several German cities, most notably in Hamburg and Cologne, were allegedly robbed, threatened and sexually assaulted by as many as 1,000 men of Arab and North African appearance, who were reportedly divided in small groups. Shortly afterward, national polls showed that personal safety concerns had increased in Germany, with over half of Germans afraid of walking alone and preferring not to leave their homes after dark.
