Neo-Nazi trial starts in Germany

PanARMENIAN.Net - An alleged member of a German neo-Nazi cell has gone on trial in Munich in connection with a series of racially motivated murders, BBC News reported.

Beate Zschaepe, 38, is accused of being part of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), which killed 10 people, mostly of Turkish background. She denies the murder charges. After entering court, she stood with folded arms and turned her back on the camera.

The case sparked controversy as police wrongly blamed the Turkish mafia.

The head of Germany's domestic intelligence service was eventually forced to resign over the scandal. It also emerged that intelligence files on far-right extremists were destroyed after the cell's activities came to light.

Four male defendants are also on trial with Zschaepe, facing lesser charges of having helped the NSU.

She faces life in prison if convicted.

The killings took place over a seven-year period, and none of the victims or locations was high-profile.

Ethnic Turkish community groups and anti-racism campaigners demonstrated outside the courthouse on Monday, May 6 demanding justice. Some suspect the police of institutional racism, which may have helped the neo-Nazis to act with impunity.

Zschaepe is charged with complicity in the murders of eight ethnic Turks, a Greek immigrant and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007, as a founding member of the NSU.

She is also accused of involvement in 15 armed robberies, of arson, and of attempted murder via two bomb attacks.

Prosecutors say the aim of the execution-style killings was to spread fear among immigrants and prompt them to leave Germany.

Her lawyers say she is refusing to speak in court. Only the trial opening was broadcast, in line with German legal restrictions.