German neo-Nazi trial opens in Munich
7 May 2013 6:53 PM IST
The highest-profile neo-Nazi murder trial in Germany in decades opened on Monday 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.
Police erected security barriers in anticipation of possible protests by far-right extremist groups,.
On the other hand, hundreds of reporters queued outside the Munich courthouse in the hope of gaining one of the few available seats in the packed courtroom for the start of a trial 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.
If convicted she faces life imprisonment.
Zschaepe is also accused of involvement in at least two bombings and 15 bank robberies carried out by her accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt, who died in an apparent murder-suicide in November 2011.
The judges allowed Zschaepe’s face to be filmed as she entered the court in a dark suit, her arms folded, before turning her back to the cameras.
Four male defendants are accused of assisting the self-styled National Socialist Underground in various ways: Ralf Wohlleben, 38, and Carsten Schultze, 33, are accused of being accessories to murder in the killing of the nine men.
Prosecutors allege that they supplied the trio with the weapons and silencers used in the killings.
Police erected security barriers in anticipation of possible protests by far-right extremist groups,.
On the other hand, hundreds of reporters queued outside the Munich courthouse in the hope of gaining one of the few available seats in the packed courtroom for the start of a trial 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.
If convicted she faces life imprisonment.
Zschaepe is also accused of involvement in at least two bombings and 15 bank robberies carried out by her accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt, who died in an apparent murder-suicide in November 2011.
The judges allowed Zschaepe’s face to be filmed as she entered the court in a dark suit, her arms folded, before turning her back to the cameras.
Four male defendants are accused of assisting the self-styled National Socialist Underground in various ways: Ralf Wohlleben, 38, and Carsten Schultze, 33, are accused of being accessories to murder in the killing of the nine men.
Prosecutors allege that they supplied the trio with the weapons and silencers used in the killings.
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