Terror trial comes to an end: verdicts expected
After more than 170 days of hearings, the mammoth trial against the alleged right-wing extremist "Gruppe S." is to be concluded today (9.00 a.m.). The Stuttgart Higher Regional Court will then announce the verdicts against eleven defendants. They are accused of having founded a terrorist cell. They wanted to provoke a civil war in Germany with attacks against mosques. The defendants were arrested in February 2020.
In its plea, the federal prosecution had demanded a prison sentence of seven years for the alleged leader of the group, Werner S. from near Augsburg, while the defense had pleaded for an acquittal. In addition to S., ten other members or supporters of the group were charged. The federal prosecution had also demanded prison sentences of varying lengths for them. With one exception, the defense lawyers had pleaded for acquittals.
The representative of the federal prosecution had said in court that members of the group had feared the takeover of the Federal Republic of Germany by refugees and wanted to fight against it. A defense lawyer, on the other hand, called the group a "collection of sloganeering busybodies". The majority of the defendants are no longer in custody.
The strictly secured proceedings have been running for more than 170 trial days and have been dragged out due to their scope and the coronavirus pandemic. According to the court, more than 130 witnesses were heard during this time and around 1,000 documents were examined, including many of the group's chat logs. In addition, more than 200 recorded phone calls were heard, a court spokeswoman said.
One of the suspects had already died in custody before the charges were brought. One of the accused from Bavaria died unexpectedly during the trial. According to the Higher Regional Court, the man collapsed on his way home from a trial in the Stammheim high-security wing just outside his apartment.
The trial against the "Gruppe S." is currently not the only one against suspected right-wing extremist terrorist groups in Germany. Four men and one woman are currently on trial in Koblenz for allegedly planning to cause a widespread power blackout and kidnap Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
The verdicts against the eleventh defendant and others accused of founding a terrorist cell with the intent to instigate civil war through attacks on mosques, as classified by the federal prosecution, will reveal the extent to which their extremist processes influenced their criminal actions. Furthermore, the court's decision will indicate whether these processes align with the prosecution's demands for prison sentences, given the defense's pleas for acquittals.
Source: www.dpa.com
