Additional trial dates until September 2016, and on the delivery of the Ceska murder weapon.

Before today’s trial day, the court announced that it was “considering” setting further trial dates up to early September 2016. The attached list of trial dates shows that the court is planning to continue to conduct the trial on three days per week. The reduction to two days per week and the various motions etc. by the Zschäpe defense had led to the trial losing steam over the last weeks before the summer break. It remains to be seen what a further expert witness statement on the physical and psychological health of the accused will show. If the expert witness again proposes a reduced schedule, this could lead to a serious prolongation of the trial. Several issues, in particularly concerning the NSU’s network of support, still need to be elucidated and will require the taking of evidence.

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Victims‘ counsel request access to files the secret service tried to destroy

Before today’s trial day, the court had denied Beate Zschäpe’s new motion to dismiss her defense counsel. Thus, speculations that the trial could be “shattered” or that Zschäpe might make a statement have once again proven to be baseless. Instead, the court conducted “business as usual” today on the next to last trial day before the summer break. However, the witness called for today, an early member of the “Kameradschaft Jena”, did not appear, having sent a doctor’s note.

Victims’ counsel brought a detailed motion to make part of the case file those files of the secret service which had been destroyed shortly after the NSU being uncovered, but which have in the meantime largely been restored:

“Today 29 victims‘ counsel brought a detailed motion to make part of the case file of the reconstructed parts of the files destroyed illegally be the federal domestic secret service, the “Federal Office for Protection of the Constitution”, in “Operation Confetti” on 11 November 2011. They also moved that the secret service officer responsible for the operation, “Lothar Lingen”, be called as witness.

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