Daily Archives: 7. September 2017

1 September 2017

Prosecution’s closing statement almost concluded.

Today the federal prosecution concluded the main part of its closing statement – the only part remaining concerns the formal motions as well as the statements on the sentences, which prosecutor Dr. Diemer will bring on the next trial on 12 September.

Today his colleagues Greger and Weingarten summarized which crimes the accused are to be convicted of. The prosecution asked that they be convicted according to the indictment, with two slight changes in the legal characterization of the charges: as to Zschäpe, this mainy concerned the arson of the house containing the NSU apartment in the Frühlingsstraße, which according to the prosecution also fulfills the requirements for the crime of “inducing an explosion”. As to accused Eminger, the provision of two motor vehicles used in bank robberies constitutes not only aiding and abetting robbery, but aiding and abetting armed robbery, which carries a much higher sentence. The court will have to decide whether it will make a formal announcement to the accused that the charges could be thus re-characterized.  Continue reading →

31 August 2017

Activists protest in the courtroom. And: closing argument concerning Eminger and Gerlach: the federal prosecution discovers the importance of ideology

The trial day began with a protest in the courtroom: before prosecutor Weingarten could continue the prosecution’s closing statement, activists of the tribunal “dissolving the NSU complex” began reading out parts of the tribunal’s own indictment concerning the federal prosecution and throwing down tiny leaflets with the names of those indicted before the tribunal. The presiding judge interrupted the trial session and the court left the courtroom, there were no sanctions against the activists, who continued their protest in front of the court building for the rest of the day.

Continue reading →