German courts suspect neo-Nazi trial of 10 murders

MUNICH – A German court said on Wednesday that the main defendant in a highly publicized neo-Nazi trial was guilty of the murder of 10 people – mostly migrants – who had been shot dead between 2000 and 2007 in a case The judges sentenced Beate Zschaepe to life imprisonment for murder, belonging to a terrorist organization, bombings that left dozens injured and several less serious crimes, including a series of burglaries. Four men were found guilty of supporting the group in various ways and sentenced to 2 1/2 to 10 years' imprisonment.

Judge President Manfred Goetzl told a court in Munich that Zschaepe's guilt weighed heavily. to serve at least 15 years.

The 43-year-old girl showed no emotion as Goetzl read her sentence. A number of far-right activists who attended the trial applauded when one of the co-defendants, Andre Eminger, was sentenced to a lesser punishment than expected.

Zschaepe was arrested in 2011, shortly after his two accomplices were found dead. suicide. With the men, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt, she formed the National Socialist Underground, a group that pursued an ideology of white racial supremacy by targeting migrants, mostly of Turkish origin.

Known by his acronym NSU, the group escaped arrest for nearly 14 years, thanks to a network of sympathizers and repeated mistakes by German security agencies

The anti-migrant sentiment that underpinned the 39, ideology of the group was particularly strong in eastern Germany in the early 1990s, when Mundlos, Boehnhardt and Zschaepe in the late teens and early 20s. The period saw a series of attacks against migrants and the rise of far-right parties.

Anti-racist activists drew parallels between this period and the violence directed against asylum seekers in Germany in recent years. The lawsuit against Zschaepe was essentially based on the question of whether the judges would also find her guilty of the murders as her two accomplices, even though there was no evidence of her physical presence.

Her lawyers sought to portray Zschaepe as a naive woman who played no active role in the murders, bombings and bank robberies committed by Mundlos and Boehnhardt. Zschaepe rarely spoke during the five-year trial, refusing to answer questions from lawyers representing the families of the victims. Towards the end, she expressed regret for the loss of families and described herself as "morally culpable" but urged the court not to condemn her "for something I did not want or did."

part of German popular culture, serving as a basis for books, a Golden Globe winning film and a Netflix series.

Yet Barbara John, the government's mediator for the families of the victims, said that many in Germany do not want to

"This is also true for immigrants who want to protect themselves psychologically from the knowledge that They live in a country that can not protect them, "she told The Associated Press

. Speaking before the verdict, John said the lawsuit could help send a signal not only to extreme right-wing extremists but also to the country's security agencies, who have for years failed to consider a possible motive for arrest. extreme right in the 10 murders and two bombs that took place across the country. Instead, the police focused on whether the victims had links to organized crime – an investigation for which there was never any evidence.

The families of the victims said Tuesday that their suspicions touched their loved ones. "The investigation went in the wrong direction, not because of the bankruptcy of some individuals, but because of institutional racism," said Alexander Hoffmann, a lawyer representing victims of an attack on the city. bomb in 2004 in Cologne

. urged federal prosecutors to continue to investigate the NSU's extensive network of supporters, believed to be much broader than the four men judged by Zschaepe

John, the mediator, said there is had encouraging signs and minorities making an effort to recruit them, ending the long – held illusion that Germany is not a country of immigrants.

"One big question remains: do we really want to know in Germany why and how the NSU murders happened?" She says. "If that were the case, the work of politicians and civil society must continue."