Once more concerning „Blood & Honour“ Chemnitz

The trial began later today to await the decision of the other chamber concerning the challenge brought by Zschäpe and Wohlleben against the judges. Unsurprisingly that chamber rejected the challenges as unfounded.

The court then heard the last bit of testimony by a police officer concerning the questioning of Thomas Starke, “Blood & Honour” activist from Chemnitz. The officer today reported on a DNA profile found in the Frühlingsstraße apartment which had raised the possibility that one of Starke’s sons had been present in that apartment, which had led to another police interview with Starke. The DNA evidence was later disproved, meaning that the subject of today’s testimony is without any importance for the result of this trial. Defense counsel for Zschäpe and Wohlleben nonetheless wasted over half an hour on questions concerning the conduct of the police officers in interviewing Starke.

Now that all of Starke’s statements to the police have been introduced into the trial, victims’ counsel made a concluding comment on his statements, stressing the very close relationship between Zschäpe and the two Uwes as described by Starke, the fact that “the Three” had been given support, including provision of explosives, by many “Blood and Honour” activists both before and after going underground. They concluded that, at least as far as the time before their move to Zwickau is concerned, the NSU can be described as a partner, if not a part, of the “Blood & Honour” network. The statement is available, in the German original, here.

The final witness this week was a detective from the federal criminal police who had talked to the NSU’s neighbor in the Frühlingsstraße in Zwickau. The old lady’s health has taken a dramatic turn for the worse after the fire such that she is not available for questioning anymore, accordingly the court has now turned to questioning those officers who had talked to her. According to the evidence presented until now, she was put severely endangered by the fire and the explosion caused by Zschäpe, the testimony heard today fits into this picture.