Germany's chancellor has promised action following Saturday's deadly car attack at Berlin's Pride celebrations.

Friedrich Merz has added his voice to mounting criticism of a judiciary system that allowed the man suspected of driving a van into a crowd to go free, despite multiple convictions.

Abdul B. was killed in a confrontation with police on Sunday. His most recent guilty verdict was in May for an offense called "preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state."

Guido Steinberg, one of Germany’s leading experts on Islamist terrorism, tells DW that there is "no excuse" for the authorities not having acted in the case of Abdul B. The Berlin police knew "everything" they had to know, and they and the intelligence services should have kept an eye on the suspect. 

Steinberg adds that German authorities are "overwhelmed" by the number of suspects, criticizing the botched handling of the Abdul B. case by a local court without the required experience.