Motion by the Wohlleben defense to suspend the trial: much ado about very very little. And: court asks Zschäpe additional questions, this time concerning Holger Gerlach.

Those who had hoped that the court would conduct the trial with a bit more vigor after the Easter break were due for a disappointment: The court again interrupted the trial shortly after 1 pm, without having heard any witnesses, and also canceled the trial day tomorrow.

This was due to a motion by the Wohlleben defense, brought before the Easter break, for suspension of the trial: During the search of Wohlleben’s apartment in 2011, police had found and photographed a T-shirt clearly showing his National Socialist ideology – under the heading of “Railway Romanticism”, it shows train tracks leading to the concentration camp Auschwitz.
The prosecution had only entered a printout of this photo into the case file a few weeks ago. The defense now moved that the trial against Wohlleben be suspended, i.e. interrupted and started anew later on, arguing that the case file was incomplete. The court at first denied the motion, but after a motion to reconsider it decided to provide printouts to the defense right away and interrupt the trial for one week. Continue reading →