Anger, shock and grief - questions remain in the wake of the Berlin Pride attack

Anger, shock and grief - questions remain in the wake of the Berlin Pride attackImage source, Omer Messinger/Getty ImagesImage caption, Mourners gather near the Brandenburg Gate on SundayByBethany BellReporting fromLeipzigPublished24 minutes agoIn Germany there is grief, shock and, increasingly, anger about the attack at Berlin Pride on Saturday night which left one Polish woman dead and injured at least 29 others.The main suspect, Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese heritage, was shot and killed by police on Sunday.Germany's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said Ballout "had previously drawn attention to himself through a high volume of criminal offences, radicalisation and affiliation with the Islamist scene."As details emerge about his criminal convictions, many are asking why Ballout was not in prison.Image source, Polizei BerlinImage caption, Abdul Ballout was shot and killed in a police operation on Sunday afternoonProsecutors say that in 2025, Ballout decided to try to join Islamic State group's armed struggle in Syria, travelling via Turkey to Lebanon. In Lebanon, they say, he met several people he believed were members of IS.He was arrested in Lebanon in July 2025 and sentenced to three months in prison for incitement to religious and sectarian conflict.Then in November 2025 he returned to Germany, where he was arrested at Berlin Brandenburg Airport and held in pre-trial detention.In May this year, a Berlin court sentenced Ballout to a juvenile sentence of one year and ten months, for "preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state".The sentence was suspended while prosecutors appealed against the verdict, calling for a longer sentence.Ballout was released and placed under the supervision of a probation officer.Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told RTL that the decision to impose a suspended sentence was "certainly incomprehensible... given the level of danger involved in this case&...