Defense team wants out of neo-Nazi trial
July 20, 2015
On Monday, the three main attorneys defending neo-Nazi suspect Beate Zschäpe have asked to be relieved of their duties in representing the key figure accused of being involved in a series of racially motivated murders across Germany between 2000 and 2007.
A representative of the Munich court, where the NSU trial has been taking place, told the AFP news agency that the trial would be adjourned for the time being.
The DPA news agency reported that on Monday morning, Wolfgang Heer, Wolfgang Stahl and Anja Sturm had all submitted their requests for permission to resign, following months of rifts and disagreements with Zschäpe.
A fourth attorney had joined the legal team just two weeks ago.
Zschäpe had attempted to fire her legal team a year ago and again more recently, but her applications were rejected by the court each time. The defendant's motivations behind distancing herself from her lawyers have only been highlighted briefly as perceived "psychological pressure" on her part, as she has been keeping her silence since the trial first started in 2013.
The move could lead to the trial being suspended altogether, at least in its current form.
More than two dozen charges
Zschäpe faces 27 charges linked to bombings and murders of 10 people mainly on racist grounds. Eight of the victims were German residents of Turkish origin, one had roots in Greece. The tenth was a German policewoman.
Two of the NSU's leading members, Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, apparently committed suicide in 2011 after they botched a bank robbery. Police found them dead in a mobile home and hit upon key evidence, including the dead policewoman's service weapon.
On trial alongside Zschäpe are four other men from the neo-Nazi scene accused of abetting murder and supporting the NSU.
ss/kms (dpa, AFP)