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.

The only witness today was a Swiss police officers who had been involved in questioning the wife of witness German. He confirmed that she had told him once more that her husband had received a package containing a gun or guns and had given it to Hans-Ulrich Müller without opening it. According to the indictment, Müller brought the gun to Thuringia, from where it made its way, via several others, to accused Wohlleben and Schultze.

Above all, the witness confirmed that the minutes of the interview had been taken together on a computer, as seems to be the usual practice in Switzerland, and that Ms. Germann had thus been able to watch the minutes and ensure that she was quoted correctly. Accordingly, another attempt by the Wohlleben defense to call into question the delivery of the murder weapon Ceska 83 has failed.

The trial will continue on 2 September 2015.