Neo-Nazi trial opens in Germany
Source: AFP |
May 7, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE highest-profile neo-Nazi murder trial in Germany in decades opened yesterday amid tight security and intense media interest, with the five accused appearing in public for the first time since their arrest more than a year ago.
The trial in Munich is scheduled to last for more than a year.
The main defendant is Beate Zschaepe, 38, accused by prosecutor of complicity in the murder of eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007 as a founding member of the National Socialist Underground. If convicted she faces life imprisonment.
Dozens of anti-racist protesters shouted slogans outside as Zschaepe entered the heavily-guarded Munich courtroom, appearing relaxed with her arms folded.
Dubbed as the "Nazi moll" by media, she is also accused of involvement in 15 armed robberies, arson and attempted murder in two bomb attacks.
Four male defendants are accused of assisting the self-styled National Socialist Underground in various ways.
Like Zschaepe, the co-defendants were known to German authorities before the existence of the self-styled National Socialist Underground came to light.
Many in Germany have asked how the country's well-funded security services, with their network of informants in the far-right scene, could have overlooked the group's existence for so long.
Germans were stunned to learn in November 2011 that foreign criminal gangs were not behind the unsolved murders, as long suspected by police, but home-grown racist killers.
The case only came to light after Zschaepe's alleged accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt were found shot dead in an apparent murder-suicide.
Zschaepe then alledgedly blew up their shared home in eastern Germany and later surrendered to police.
A DVD later emerged with a film in the style of a "Pink Panther" cartoon in which the group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
A probe into the handling of the case revealed oversights and missteps by police and domestic intelligence services and a realization that the right-wing extremist threat had been grossly underestimated.
The head of domestic intelligence resigned in July after staff admitted shredding files relevant to the case, and a parliamentary committee has been set up to look into what went wrong.
Families of those killed and survivors of the bomb attacks in particular have said they are hoping not just for justice, but answers to questions such as how the group chose its victims, none of whom were high-profile targets.
The trial in Munich is scheduled to last for more than a year.
The main defendant is Beate Zschaepe, 38, accused by prosecutor of complicity in the murder of eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007 as a founding member of the National Socialist Underground. If convicted she faces life imprisonment.
Dozens of anti-racist protesters shouted slogans outside as Zschaepe entered the heavily-guarded Munich courtroom, appearing relaxed with her arms folded.
Dubbed as the "Nazi moll" by media, she is also accused of involvement in 15 armed robberies, arson and attempted murder in two bomb attacks.
Four male defendants are accused of assisting the self-styled National Socialist Underground in various ways.
Like Zschaepe, the co-defendants were known to German authorities before the existence of the self-styled National Socialist Underground came to light.
Many in Germany have asked how the country's well-funded security services, with their network of informants in the far-right scene, could have overlooked the group's existence for so long.
Germans were stunned to learn in November 2011 that foreign criminal gangs were not behind the unsolved murders, as long suspected by police, but home-grown racist killers.
The case only came to light after Zschaepe's alleged accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt were found shot dead in an apparent murder-suicide.
Zschaepe then alledgedly blew up their shared home in eastern Germany and later surrendered to police.
A DVD later emerged with a film in the style of a "Pink Panther" cartoon in which the group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
A probe into the handling of the case revealed oversights and missteps by police and domestic intelligence services and a realization that the right-wing extremist threat had been grossly underestimated.
The head of domestic intelligence resigned in July after staff admitted shredding files relevant to the case, and a parliamentary committee has been set up to look into what went wrong.
Families of those killed and survivors of the bomb attacks in particular have said they are hoping not just for justice, but answers to questions such as how the group chose its victims, none of whom were high-profile targets.
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