On the NSU video and the NSU’s newspaper archive

Today the court heard two federal police detectives inter alia on the production process of the NSU video and on an archive found in the Frühlingsstraße apartment containing newspaper clippings concerning the murders and bomb attacks of the NSU.

The first detective was able, despite several attempts at interruption by the defense and despite rather scatterbrained questioning by the presiding judge, to show that the video was prepared in several periods between May of 2006 and November of 2007. Among other steps, in June of 2006, i.e. before the murder of police officer Michèle Kiesewetter and the attempted murder of her colleague, a hand was drawn into the video which fired a shot at a police officer. His colleague reported on her investigations concerning an archive containing several newspaper articles on the NSU’s crimes. Two of these contained finger prints of Beate Zschäpe, one contained DNA material which is likely also Zschäpe’s. Also found in the Frühlingsstraße apartment was a “script” for the video. The handwriting on all documents was found to be very likely that of Böhnhardt and Mundlos.

The witness had also dealt with reconstructed deleted files on a computer belonging to Holger Gerlach – among others, she found files with neo-Nazi content as well as three pictures/videos of the “Pink Panther”. Whether this represents a clue that Gerlach knew of the NSU video or whether this is pure coincidence could not be found out.

Victims’ lawyers for the Yozgat family brought two motions for evidence (witnesses as well as documents) showing that the Brandenburg domestic secret service had prevented the seizure of the three fugitives Zschäpe, Böhnhardt and Mundlos in 1998: Their informer Szczepanski had told them that Jan Werner was in the process of procuring a gun for the three fugitives, who were planning to commit a robbery and then leave the country. However, the service refused to provide this information to the Thuringia police in the manner needed to effect their arrest, citing as reason the protection of their source Szczepanski. Had they given this information to the police, they would have been able to arrest Zschäpe, Mundlos and Böhnhardt before commission of any of the NSU’S crimes. Victims’ counsel also presented evidence that secret service officer Görlitz had perjured himself in court when discussing the events in 1998.