Stephen Balliet's prison misadventures

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Magdeburg. - The Halle attacker, who was accused of taking hostages in the JVA Burg prison, sat down for the trial in the Magdeburg regional court on Monday with a black eye . When senior public prosecutor Klaus Tewes casually asked before the trial began where he got the violet in his left eye, the 32-year-old replied: “That was me.”

He leaves everything else open. Judicial circles say that Stephan Balliet inflicted the injury on himself with his fist after the trial began. His lawyer Thomas Rutkowski: “He told me it was an accident.”

Hostage taking in JVA Burg: Homemade weapon looked like a submachine gun
The two hostages were the first to speak at the hearing. They spoke of fear of death on the evening of December 12, 2022 and assumed an acute danger from the self-made weapon. This “looked like an Uzi submachine gun.” The 26-year-old correctional officer , whom the prisoner first took hostage , describes: “He held the gun in front of me at waist height and said that he wanted to get out. I then triggered the personal alarm.” This informed all colleagues in the area. The officer opened a few doors and tried to “buy time.”


The second trial against the Halle attacker Stephan B. started on Thursday (camera: Jan Schumann, editing: Anna Lena Giesert)
His colleagues who were in contact with him through the security system took note of this. At the beginning Balliet remained calm. “But then he became louder and more direct. He said the gun could kill me,” the officer recalled. He always had to run ahead of the hostage taker. Even later in the free time yard, the prisoner decided where to go next. “When another door was about to be opened, I told him it wasn’t possible,” he explains.

Then Balliet counted down from 20. At that moment his 40-year-old colleague came along. The officer warned him that Balliet had a gun. The defendant is said to have confirmed this with the words: “Yes, that is a submachine gun!” Then he sent the first hostage away. She now says: “I was afraid of death and, above all, afraid of letting my family down.”

Prison officers not on duty after being taken hostage by Halle attackers
At the beginning he thought that talking to his colleagues after the incident would be enough. But that didn't work. He is now receiving psychological treatment. He has dreams in which the defendant appears. His older colleague is also struggling with the consequences. The 40-year-old was taken as the second hostage. Balliet fired the shot into the air from his self-made weapon and said at the time: “The next shot is right!” This former hostage now reports panic attacks, insomnia and also limited physical performance. Both officers are currently not on active duty.

Even after the descriptions, the defendant shows no sign of regret. He declines to comment. Balliet confessed right at the start of the trial and described how he had assembled his weapon from everyday objects. He attributed it with lethal properties, but one expert spoke of very low energy, less than that of an air rifle.

The trial continues on Wednesday with two witnesses and the psychiatric report. The court announced that it would then close the taking of evidence. In the case, pleas could be held on February 19th and the verdict could follow.

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Magdeburg. - On the third day of the trial on Wednesday (January 31st) regarding the taking of two JVA officers hostage in the Burger Prison (Jerichower Land), psychiatric expert Norbert Leygraf yesterday declared the convicted Halle attacker “guilty”. Stephan Balliet is being tried before a criminal chamber in Stendal, but in the Magdeburg regional court, because of the jurisdiction over Burg.

In his report, Leygraf stated that the defendant did not have any mental illness or disorder in the sense of incapacity. He still spoke of a “combined personality disorder”. However, this “does not lead to any impairment of the ability to control”. The defendant was not acting out of madness, but ideology. Leygraf is also convinced that Balliet would commit serious crimes and homicides “out of his deep xenophobic and anti-Semitic convictions.” The psychiatrist also did not rule out further hostage-taking in custody. The crime now alleged has shown that nothing has changed compared to the first trial (after the Halle attack in 2019).

The head of the correctional facility, Ulrike Hagemann, made similar comments. When asked by a co-plaintiff whether she thought Balliet was capable of rehabilitation, she replied: “From the current perspective, no.” In conversations he said that he wanted to do it (the escape attempt) “better next time”. He also said: “Then it would probably be better if I had shot a few Muslims.” He means Muslim foreigners. When asked about the day of the crime, Hagemann said that she immediately went from home to the correctional facility when she found out about the hostage-taking. While driving, she spoke to the dispatcher on the speakerphone and asked if Balliet was screaming in the background. He answered in the affirmative. “I then gave the instructions that the gate should remain closed,” Hagemann explains in court. “A mobile situation would not only be more dangerous for the hostage, but also for other people.” That's why the gate to the vehicle lock should remain closed.

Balliet is being held in the Raßnitz youth center during the trial. In his security cell, it was reported that he hit himself in the left eye again with his fist. Because this was observed via video surveillance, his guards were able to intervene. The pleas are expected on the next day of the trial, February 19th. The verdict could then be pronounced on a following day.