N Nearly five years and over 430 trial days, the verdicts of the NSU trial in the Higher Regional Court of Munich have fallen, the verdict could last several hours
The main accused Beate Zschäpe was sentenced as the author of the murders and violence of the NSU (National Socialist Underground) of the far right to the maximum penalty. The Higher Regional Court sentenced a life sentence to the 43-year-old man. He also noted the particular gravity of guilt. The court sentenced Zschäpe for murder, belonging to a terrorist group and a serious arson attack. Four men co-accused as NSU badistants were sentenced to imprisonment for up to ten years.
The president, Judge Manfred Götzl, followed his conviction for Zschäpe at the end of the mammoth process of the federal prosecutor's request. In particular, Götzl also joined the controversial opinion of the prosecution that Zschäpe was to be convicted as an accomplice of the ten murders attributed to the NSU, two bombings and fifteen robberies, even though it did not go unnoticed. was present at none of the murders and murders.
Pre-trial detention is not provided by a court spokesman. Lifetime imprisonment may be suspended at the earliest after 15 years of probation. However, if the guilt is particularly serious, the author can only be released after 15 years in exceptional cases, such as old age or serious illness. The prosecution had required pre-trial detention if the conviction was subsequently stayed.
Zschäpe's defense lawyers have promptly announced a review – "the verdict is false, the conviction for complicity is legally indefensible", explains their defender Mathias Grasel, and public defender Anja Sturm also criticized the verdict: The presiding judge gave a little impression that "the verdict had been established for a very long time," she said.It was extremely difficult to follow the verdict of the judge and the reasoning is "extremely Zschäpe's lawyers had previously stated that they were to serve a maximum prison sentence of ten years.
The 43-year-old girl, detained since 2011 and remaining silent during the trial, still wants to hear about the actions of his two friends.They were killed after their release in 2011.
Sentences against co-defendants
The court sentenced the co-defendants to the The former NDP leader Ralf Wohlleben must be detained for ten years. Thus, the Higher Regional Court of Munich falls short of the request of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, which had asked the accused for twelve years as badistant to the NSU.
The co-accused Holger G. was sentenced to three years in prison. The Higher Regional Court found him guilty of supporting a terrorist group. G. admitted to having once handed over a weapon to the NSU trio and helped hide the false papers. The federal prosecutor had asked for five years of imprisonment, the defense had pleaded for a sentence of "less than two years".
The co-accused André E. was sentenced to two years and six months in prison. However, the Higher Regional Court did not convict him for aiding the attempted murder, as required by the federal prosecutor's office. He sentenced the 38-year-old man, who allegedly helped disguise the underground trio NSU, simply for the support of a terrorist group. Defense lawyers had demanded the acquittal of all charges against their client
At the end of the verdict, the Munich Higher Regional Court quashed the arrest warrant against the recognized neo-Nazi guilty. He will be released from pre-trial detention. A group of right-wing extremists responded with applause and cheers to the court's decision
The co-accused Carsten S. was sentenced to three years of juvenile detention. The court found him guilty of aiding and abetting the murder in nine cases, but sentenced him to juvenile justice because he was a teenager at the time of the crime. S. had confessed to handing the Ceska pistol to the NSU, with which the neo-Nazi terrorists later shot nine people
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The indictment required an order of juvenile detention for three years and recognition badistance. admission of guilt by Carsten S. evaluated positively. The defense lawyers had asked for acquittal – their client had no knowledge of the planned murders of the NSU.
The additional charge described two of the sentences as "very light"
Mehmet Daimagüler sees in the judgments on the NSU's conclusion to treat "light and shadow". The main defendant, Beate Zschäpe, was a racist and a murderer. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, said Daimagüler. On the other hand, the convictions against the co-accused Ralf Wohlleben and Andre E. seemed "light, too indulgent".
Carsten S., the co-accused, would have liked a sentence of probation instead of the three-year sentence. "He contributed to the Enlightenment and showed deep remorse," said Daimagüler. "He would be more free to help society when he was reporting the dangers of the right-wing scene in youth centers."
Daimagüler required further education. "We must badume that there are other accomplices and accomplices who are at liberty." A civil liability action has already been instituted to clarify issues of state responsibility and the role of the protection of the constitution. He will lure her to the European Court of Human Rights
. Attorney Bernd Behnke, who represents members of the murdered Mehmet Turgut in Rostock, expressed satisfaction. He considers that the verdict is correct. The Higher Regional Court of Munich had largely followed the prosecution 's request with the conviction of Zschäpe.
Politicians question the role of the protection of the constitution
Federal Minister of the Interior According to Horst Seehofer (CSU) the process for the German society and the security authorities no end point. "" We will not let down, with the strength to ensure the safety of citizens, "said Seehofer." The crimes dealt with in the judicial proceedings should teach us how to fight the law. " right extremism in Germany with all the necessary means both in a preventive and repressive way in the future. "
Heiko Maas (SPD) reminded the victims of the murder series. the authors have done, it's irreparable, "Maas said on the Twitter short message service." The victims will never be forgotten, "he wrote under the slogan" no-dash. "" Against racist violence , we do not put only the force of the law ", he added: "Against intolerance and hatred, we need the diversity of our open societies."
The Left demanded further clarification. "With the judgment in the NSU process, the complex is not clear." There is much to suggest that the NSU included more than three neo-Nazis, "the party wrote on Twitter. Constitutionalists have accused it of having prevented the Enlightenment. "The parents have the right to the truth, no conclusion."
The Deputy Parliamentary Group Leader FDP in the German Bundestag, Stephan Thomae, welcomed the verdict and called for a reform of the security authorities. The treatment of "the incredible racist crime" of the NSU should not be completed, said Thomae. As before, many questions were opened, such as "how could this happen to such a serious authority that would fail with the protection of the Constitution". The government must therefore submit a concept "for a comprehensive reform of the German security architecture."
Protesters Show Illustrations of NSU Victims in Front of the Building
Source: dpa / Tobias Hase [19659028] Leader of the Greens in the Bundestag, Anton Hofreiter, called for a clarification of the role of constitutional protection. This had "obstructed the Enlightenment and did not contribute," Hofreiter criticized. "The protection of the constitution has shredded tons of records.The protection of the constitution has built in all the commissions of investigation."
There should now be no firing line, said Hofreiter. Also what helps and supports the national-socialist clandestine concerns, a lot more education is needed. "The NSU support network still exists."
The sacrificial commissioner of the federal government Edgar Franke, called for solidarity with the victims and survivors of the attacks following the verdict. "I hope the verdict today is another step for affected people and families to deal with the experience," Franke said.
The Turkish community and the daughter of a victim claiming new lawsuits
] in Germany (TGD) demanded further criminal proceedings against "the network of supporters of the NSU. " Gdkay Sofuoglu, leader of the TGD, said on Wednesday that "Chancellor Angela Merkel and many others have promised the victims a complete education." The federal prosecutor's office has not taken into account the findings of the parliamentary committees. Investigation and many research conducted by civil society in the long process and attached to the theory of an isolated terrorist trio
. Judgment in the NSU trial as "unsatisfactory The Foreign Ministry in Ankara said that Turkey had "noted" that Zschäpe had been sentenced to life imprisonment and that his co-defendants were also sentenced to long prison terms. 39, has not clarified the whole context of the series of murders of NSU.
The survivor of a murder victim of NSU considers the judgments as an important step. However, Gamze K Ubasik, the daughter of Mehmet Kubasik, who was murdered in Dortmund, now hopes that "all other NSU aides will be found and convicted," she said, according to a message distributed by her lawyers. "If the court is honest, it will also say that there are gaps, so long as these gaps remain, my family and I can not finish."
After the conviction, about 200 people demonstrated in front of the courthouse and demanded further clarification, NSU badistance circles would continue to be prosecuted, and the role of constitutional protection in the case of NSU should also be clarified, it was said at It is also necessary to "face racism in our communities, in our daily lives and in our institutions," said a spokesperson for the "no line" campaign. for a demonstration on Wednesday evening in Munich In 25 other cities, similar events are planned for this week
On the sidelines of the rally, the German-Turkish BIG party based in North Rhine-Westphalia installed a large Turkish skin to remind that many victims of NSU murders were of Turkish origin. .
