German woman faces verdict in 5-year neo-Nazi murder trial
BERLIN: One of the biggest trials in modern German history ends Wednesday when the court hands a verdict to the only surviving member of a neo-Nazi cell behind a string of racist murders.
Beate Zschaepe, 43, is accused of complicity in 10 deadly shootings of mostly Turkish and Greek-born immigrants carried out by clandest ine trio the National Socialist Underground ( NSU).
The NSU’s two gunmen — Zschaepe’s former lovers Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt — also shot dead a German policewoman during their 2000- 07 killing spree before they died in an apparent suicide pact in 2011.
After their deaths following a bungled bank heist, Zschaepe revealed to a shocked German public the scope of the NSU’s crimes with a macabre confession video, set to a Pink Panther cartoon theme, which she mailed to media and Muslim groups.
It was only then that Germany awoke to the news that the nationwide killings, long blamed by police on immigrant crime gangs, had in fact been committed by organised fascists from Germany’s formerly communist east.
The case deeply shocked Germany, which has struggled to atone for its dark Nazi past and which had associated terrorism mainly with far-left and Islamist militants, not rightwing thugs.
Prosecutors have demanded the maximum punishment for Zschaepe — a li fe term that translates to 15 years behind bars but can be extended if she is deemed an ongoing threat to society.
Also in the dock and facing up to 12 years jail are four men accused of having supported the NSU by providing the murder weapon, cash, identity papers and logistical aid during their years in hiding.
The co - accused a re Ral f Wohlleben, a former member of the far-right NPD party, unrepentant neo-Nazi Andre E and two former supporters- turned- witnesses, Holger G and Carsten S.
The mammoth Munich court case, which began in May 2013, will end on its 438th day after hearing some 750 witnesses and over 50 experts, with 93 bereaved relatives as co-plaintiffs.
It was Germany’s biggest court case since the 1960s Auschwitz trials against the perpetrators of the Holocaust, and the 1970s proceedings against the leftwing ext remist Baader- Meinhof gang.
Prosecutors have accused Zschaepe of being an active NSU member who helped the two men by covering their tracks, handling finances and providing a safe haven in their shared home. — AFP