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The NSU Trial is the trial against several people in connection with the National Socialist Underground (NSU) – an extreme-right terrorist organization in Germany – and the NSU murders. It has been taking place since 6 May 2013 in Munich in the 6th Criminal Division of the Munich Higher Regional Court before five professional judges.
Accused are Beate Zschäpe and four suspected helpers and supporters: André Eminger, Holger Gerlach, Carsten Schultze and former NPD official Ralf Wohlleben.
Zschäpe must answer charges of, inter alia, being a principal in ten murders and a serious arson and of being a member of a terrorist organization.
André Eminger is accused, inter alia, of being an accessory in the nail bomb attack in Cologne in 2004.
Holger Gerlach is accused, inter alia, of being an accessory by providing false documents for the so-called NSU trio.
Carsten Schultze is accused, inter alia, of being an accessory by providing the NSU trio with arms.
Ralf Wohlleben is accused, inter alia, of being an accessory by providing the NSU trio with arms.
A critical issue for Zschäpe may be the differentiation in German law between principal and accessory. In her case it may hinge on the interpretation of the word "gemeinschaftlich" as used in Section 25 of the German Penal Code. In the Red Army Faction trials three of its members were found guilty of being principals, even though it wasn't known which of them had done what, because they were part of a unit whose combined goal it was to carry out the attacks for which they were charged. On these grounds it would seem possible that Zschäpe could be convicted as a principal. The jurist Claus Roxin, however, believes that a principal must in some way be in control of the illegal act, something commonly believed to be beyond Zschäpe's participation.
Although a Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry into the NSU is said to confirm that German authorities were not involved and did not cover up the NSU killings, doubts remain. Was it pure chance that a member of the German intelligence service just happened to be at the scene of at least one of the murders, seemingly at the very minutes while it was carried out? Does the fact that colleagues of the murdered policewoman Michèle Kiesewetter were members of the Ku-Klux-Klan and that she lived close to a public house frequented by the extreme-right not raise questions? Why does forensic and other evidence for the deaths of Böhnhardt and Mundlos, the other two alleged principals in the case, in the motor-caravan not add up? The German government, domestic intelligence and the police, it is thought, will also be on trial.
Proceedings
On Saturday, 4 May 2013, objections were submitted against the judges, to be considered before the start of the trial. The objections centred on defence as well as plaintiff counsel being searched before entering the courtroom, while federal prosecutors and members of the court were not. On the first day of the trial, 6 May 2013, the presiding judge, Judge Götzl, deferred the decision on the applications, adjourning the trial until 14 May 2013. These motions of bias were rejected four days later.
Mahmut Tanal, a member of the Turkish parliament who attended the first day of the proceedings, complained that the presence of a crucifix in the courtroom violated the secular principles of the rule of law and was a threat to all non-Christians.
On 4 June, the fifth day of the trial, Anja Sturm, representing Zschäpe, sought a discontinuation of the trial in that the Attorney General's prosecutors, the Federal Criminal Police Office and other public figures and authorities had taken the accusations against her client as true fact before trial, thus breaching the constitution and making the trial untenable. The request was denied. On the same day, several representatives of the plaintiffs demanded that trial observers from the Federal and State Criminal Police Office and the Militärischer Abschirmdienst should be excluded from the courtroom, since they would endanger the establishment of the truth. Some defenders also felt this might be the case. This Götzl also declined, as he saw no way in which observers could influence witnesses. Neither the plaintiffs nor the defenders agreed with this argument. The accused Carsten Schultze admitted being involved in the procurement of a firearm with silencer. Holger Gerlach admitted to organizing passports and driving licences for Zschäpe, Böhnhardt, and Mundlos. Gerlach confessed to having deposited €10,000 for the trio in his hometown of Lauenau in Lower Saxony. He apologized for this in a read statement.
In July 2015 Mathias Grasel joined Zschäpe's defence team. Dispute and distrust had arisen between Zschäpe and those representing her: Anja Sturm, Wolfgang Heer, and Wolfgang Stahl.
On 9 December 2015 Zschäpe, the only surviving member of the NSU trio, broke her silence after two-and-a-half-years and made a statement, denying that she had been a member of the NSU; although she was involved with members, she herself claims not to have been a member and to have disapproved of their actions. She apologised to victims' families, saying that she felt morally guilty that she could not prevent the murders and bomb attacks carried out by Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt. Few took her apology seriously, with opinions that she was trying to deny her responsibility. Newspaper Bild ran a headline "Zschaepe's confession - nothing but excuses!"
Zschäpe had stated through her defence lawyer, Mathias Grasel, that she would only answer questions from the judges and lawyers for the four co-accused put in writing and that she would not answer questions from prosecutors. On 15 December 2015, Judge Götzl read out 63 questions in court. These included:
Prosecutors wanted to know about contacts Böhnhardt and Mundlos had with people who had not appeared in court and if Susann Eminger knew about the criminal activity.
On 16 December 2015, in contrast to Beate Zschäpe who had her statement read by her defence lawyer, Ralf Wohlleben read his own statement out in court. He stated that he took no part in the activities of the group and did not acquire the Česká weapon used in the killings for them. He said that since the mid-1990s he had had nothing against foreigners, although he was against politics promoting the influx of foreigners, and did not want Jena to have areas where there were only foreigners, as he believed was the case in Frankfurt am Main.
Before Zschäpe's and Wohlleben's statements a verdict was expected in late Spring 2016. Arrangements now exist for the trial to continue until September 2016.
On 21 January 2016 Zschäpe gave answers to the questions put by Judge Götzl. On 3 February 2106 Judge Götzl asked a further 39 which included:
Arrangements now exist for the trial to continue until September 2017.