Three months into his trial on charges of terrorism, Syrian national Yamin A. broke his silence and denied he had plotted large-scale bombings in Germany.
The suspect, 20, told a Hamburg court on Thursday that he had fought alongside Syrian opposition factions against Bashar Assad's regime, but did not plan any terrorist operations in Germany.
He confessed to appearing in a self-shot video, showing him with a group of masked men, explaining how to prepare homemade explosives in the kitchen of his apartment on August 22, 2017. However, he argued that it was a one-time assembly not intended to target people.
German security experts disagreed with Yamin’s claims, stating in their court report that the suspect reached an advanced stage of preparing for an explosive device that would kill dozens.
Yamin’s defense lawyer handed the judge a written statement denying charges of plotting a terror attack in Germany.
Seeking asylum, the suspect had arrived in Germany back in 2015. He was granted asylum one year after his arrival and was living near the city of Schwerin at the time of his arrest.
Federal Public Prosecution in Karlsruhe filed a lawsuit against Yamin for preparing a terrorist operation in Germany five months after his arrest.
According to data from the German Federal Ministry of the Interior, he requested political asylum in Germany with the aim of carrying out a massive terrorist operation similar to those staged by the ISIS terror group in some European cities.
More so, reports claimed that Yamin planned to carry out a bombing that would kill over 200 people.
However, the charges filed gave no details as to when and where the presumed attack was supposed to take place, and only pointed out that it was not clear.
According to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the defendant also wanted to spur panic and distrust among the population and shake public security.
