Another witness with a faulty memory, and: Zschäpe defense announces statement on victim counsel questions

Today the court first continued questioning the witness who, as publisher of a Nazi fanzine, had received a letter containing several hundred Euros from the NSU in the early 2000s (on his earlier testimony see the report of 26 July 2016). His further questioning did not lead to much new information, the witness still pretended not to remember anything, above all the ideological contents of his publication which had led to the NSU giving him the money.

Victims counsel Eberhard Reinicke brought a motion for evidence concerning the gas canister which Zschäpe had used to set fire to the house in the Frühlingsstraße. The motion aims to show once more that Zschäpe’s statements in court are untrue, this time as concerns her claim that the gas had been in the house for unrelated purposes, namely as fuel for a boat motor. To the contrary, the fact that the filler neck of the canister had been found unter Zschäpe’s bed tends to show that she had stored the gas earlier with the potential for arson in mind.

The court then announced its decision on the questions posed by victims counsel to Zschäpe to which Zschäpe’s defense counsel had objected – it overruled some objections while upholding others. Zschäpe’s counsel Matthias Grasel announced that he would read out a statement on these questions tomorrow – he explicitly left open whether or not questions by victims counsel and the psychiatric expert witness will be answered.