Another nonsensical defense challenge for alleged bias

Today, the court first heard an expert witness, a linguist with the federal criminal police. She had compared the “NSU letter”, which the organization had sent to other Nazi structures, with letters written by Beate Zschäpe. The result of her study is that it is possible, but not proven that Zschäpe had authored the “NSU letter”.

The next witness was a police officer who had questioned Beate Zschäpe and Ralf Wohlleben in the 1990s. He remembered hardly anything of those interviews. When presiding judge Götzl started to read out the minutes of that interview in order to ask the witness whether they helped refresh his memory, the Zschäpe defense intervened.

At the end of the whole charade, the Zschäpe defense, joined by the Wohlleben defense, once more challenged the presiding judge for alleged bias. Court was adjourned for the day; a decision on the defense challenge is expected before the next trial day on Tuesday – with the guaranteed outcome that the challenge will be rejected as it is utterly without merit.

Apparently the defense is trying to feign strength and activity – maybe a signal for next week when a possible supporter from Chemnitz, then-husband of witness Antje Probst, and secret service informer Carsten Szczepanski are to testify as witnesses.