In November 2020, a young woman from Ticino attacked two women with a knife in Lugano. The charge before the Federal Criminal Court is multiple attempted murder. A jihadist motive is suspected.
The Federal Criminal Court in Bellinzona.
The main hearing against the 29-year-old from Ticino, who attacked two women with a knife at Grandi Magazzini Manor Sud SA in Lugano on November 24, 2020 and in some cases seriously injured them, began in Bellinzona in the morning. The federal prosecutor assumes a terrorist motive.
Defendant appears veiled
The accused appeared at the start of the trial dressed all in black and initially refused to remove her head veil, as requested by the presiding federal criminal judge, Fiorenza Bergomi. She is a Muslim and the court should respect that, she explained. Only after consulting her defense attorneys did she remove the head veil.
The Ticino woman is accused of multiple attempted murders, violating Art. 2 of the federal law prohibiting the groups “Al-Qaeda” and “Islamic State” and related organizations and illegal practice of prostitution, according to Article 199 of the Criminal Code.
Serious mental problems
Before the Federal Criminal Court, the accused reported a lot about her life. The picture emerged of a young woman who has slipped from one catastrophe to the next in her life and is suffering from serious psychological problems. She later described to the court how she approached Islam, fell in love with a Syrian fighter and became radicalized.
The day of the knife attack, November 24, 2020, was meticulously reconstructed. Photographs of the deep cuts to the neck suffered by the first victim who attacked her with a bread knife were shown in court.
When the judge repeatedly asked what she felt about these pictures, the accused always answered the same: “I don’t feel anything, it doesn’t make any impression on me.” And when asked what she would do today if she could return to that day, she said: “I would do the same thing, only better.” These were shocking statements for the audience, but especially for the woman who was the victim of this attack and who was in the courtroom as a private prosecutor.
As to the motivation for this attack, the accused explained that she wanted to prove that she was capable of carrying out a terrorist attack as a woman. She actually wanted to commit the act on December 24, but also acted “consideration before Christmas” a month earlier. She also stated that she had sent large amounts of money from her illegal work as a prostitute to fighters in Syria with whom she was in contact.
In the afternoon, Carlo Calanchini, the first of two psychiatrists, is heard.