NSU trial: Prosecutor says defendants provided main murder weapon

August 01, 2017

In his closing arguments Monday, public prosecutor Jochen Weingarten said the two co-defendants had aided and abetted the Nationalist Socialist Underground (NSU), a right-wing extremist terrorist gang responsible for 10 murders between 2000 and 2007.

Ralf Wohlleben, a former official at the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD), and Carsten S. stand accused of procuring a Ceska pistol with a silencer that the NSU used to kill eight Turkish immigrants and a Greek citizen. A different weapon was used against their 10th victim, a German policewoman.

Prosecutors said last week that the main surviving suspect, Beate Zschäpe, bears full responsibility for the crimes, even though she did not carry out the killings directly. The fatal shots were allegedly fired by her two friends, fellow NSU members Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt. The pair killed themselves in 2011 when police discovered the group by chance during a botched bank robbery. Zschäpe handed herself in to authorities shortly thereafter.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

A mysterious string of murders

For years, neo-Nazis of the right-wing organization National Socialist Underground (NSU) were killing people across Germany. The suspects: Uwe Mundlos, Uwe Böhnhardt (center) and Beate Zschäpe. Their victims: eight people of Turkish origin, one Greek man and a German policewoman. Their motive: obvious xenophobia. Until 2011, the German public was not aware of the scope of their crimes.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Unsuccessful bank robbery

The murder spree was uncovered on November 4, 2011 when Mundlos and Böhnhardt robbed a bank in the east German town of Eisenach. For the first time, they failed. Police officers surrounded the caravan in which the two men were holed up. A later investigation concluded that Mundlos first shot and killed Böhnhardt, then set the caravan on fire and killed himself.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Zschäpe turns herself in

Shortly after the death of Böhnhardt and Mundlos there was an explosion at Frühlingsstraße 26 in Zwickau, in the state of Saxony. Beate Zschäpe lived at that address together with the two bank robbers. Zschäpe allegedly set the house on fire to destroy evidence. Four days later, she turned herself in to the police. The terror suspect has been in pre-trial custody since that day.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

The truth comes out

In the ruins of the Zwickau flat, police officers found a self-made video in which the terror cell claimed responsibility under the name of the NSU, the National-Socialist Underground. The 15-minute video shows crime scenes and pictures of the victims killed by the right-wing terrorist group between 2000 and 2007.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

NSU claim responsibility

Famous cartoon character The Pink Panther hosts the amateur video, which is full of slogans of hatred against people with an immigrant background and which mocks the murder victims. Before her arrest, Zschäpe allegedly sent out copies of the video in which the NSU claimed responsibility for the crimes.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Verbal slip-ups

Until 2011, the term “döner murders” was frequently used when reporting about the killings. Nothing was known about the connection between the individual cases, nor about the motive. There were rumors the victims were linked to the drug scene. But the NSU’s video left no doubt. The term “döner murders” was chosen as Germany’s “Unwort des Jahres” (doublespeak of the year) in 2011.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

NSU also behind Cologne pipe bomb

“The findings made by our security authorities so far show no indication of a terrorist background, but of a criminal milieu,” said German Interior Minister Otto Schily on June 10, 2004. A day earlier, a pipe bomb explosion in Cologne left 22 people injured and many shops damaged. In 2011, it became clear: the NSU’s right-wing terrorists were also behind the Cologne bombing.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Memorial service in Berlin

On February 23, 2012, Germany commemorated the victims. At the ceremony at a Berlin concert hall, the focus was on the relatives of the victims. Semiya Simsek (right), the daughter of the murdered flower stand owner Enver Simsek, gave an emotional speech. German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an official apology to the victims and promised them that all questions would be answered.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Solidarity with the victims

On November 4, 2012, exactly a year after the terror cell was uncovered, people in many German cities staged solidarity demonstrations against right-wing extremism. The protesters called for thorough investigations into the racially motivated murders – which in their view was not happening fast enough.

Chronicle of the NSU murders

Memorial for Mehmet Kubasik

“Dortmund is a colorful, tolerant and welcoming town – and opposes right-wing extremism!” This statement was made by mayor Ullrich Sierau at the unveiling of the memorial stone for NSU victim Mehmet Kubasik in September 2012. The memorial was set up just meters away from the kiosk in which Kubasik was killed on April 4, 2006.

Author: Anna Peters / nh

Prosecutors say the NSU trio operated undetected for a period of 13 years, planning and carrying out attacks on foreigners living in Germany.

Marathon trial

There are five defendants, including Zschäpe, in the trial, which has become one of the most closely-watched cases in German history since it began four years ago.

During Monday’s closing statements, prosecutor Weingarten said Ralf Wohlleben and Carsten S. would have been aware of the “obvious possibility” that their gun would be used to shoot people with a non-German background. But they provided the weapon nonetheless because they “felt obligated” to the underground terror cell, he said.

Wohlleben denies the charge. Carsten S., however, is the only suspect thus far to have made a confession to police, admitting to selling the gun to the NSU.

Denials

Throughout the trial, Zschäpe has denied taking part in the crimes committed by her friends. But prosecutors allege the 43-year-old was closely involved in the NSU’s sourcing and stockpiling of weapons, munition, and explosives, and that she had also helped the group acquire identification documents and SIM cards.

The case is being heard before the Munich High Regional Court. The closing arguments of the prosecutors, joint plaintiffs and defendants are only expected to end only after the summer recess, when focus will shift to the remaining co-defendants Andre E. and Holger G. If found guilty, some of the accused could be sentenced to life in prison.

A verdict in the trial, which began in 2013, is expected before the end of the year.

nm/jm (Reuters, AFP, dpa)

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

Enver Şimşek, September 9, 2000, Nuremberg

Enver Şimşek, aged 38, was the fist victim of the far-right terrorist group Nationalist Socialist Underground (NSU). He was found on the side of an arterial road in Nuremberg with several bullets in his body. He died two days later. Regina Schmeken started photographing the sites of the NSU crimes at the beginning of 2013 and returned to them several times until 2016.

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

Süleyman Taşköprü, June 27, 2001, Hamburg

The grocer Süleyman Taşköprü, 31, was found here by his father, lying in a pool of blood. He died shortly afterwards. Photographer Regina Schmeken said her camera felt drawn to the ground when visiting the sites. The floor covering is still the one that was there at the time of the crime, 14 years ago.

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

Mehmet Turgut, February 25, 2004, Rostock

This is where 25-year-old Mehmet Turgut died. He was a temporary worker at a döner kebab stand and was shot by the NSU murderers. Through her exhibition project, Regina Schmeken aims to remember the victims through the crime scenes, exploring the fact that they at first sight no longer offer any trace of the violent crimes that occurred there.

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

22 people injured, June 9, 2004, Cologne

A nail bomb which exploded on Keuptstrasse in Cologne injured 22 people – many of them seriouly. The street in the Mülheim district is known for its many Turkish and Kurdish shops. The police believed for a long time that the attack was related to a family feud.

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

Theodoros Boulgarides, June 15, 2005, Munich

The seventh NSU murder victim was Theodoros Boulgarides. The 41-year-old Greek man was shot three times in the head. Regina Schmeken didn’t leave out manifestations of daily life in her pictures, as she wanted to demonstrate that these murders happened in animated areas.

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

Halit Yozgat, April 6, 2006, Kassel

The 21-year-old Halit Yozgat, born in Kassel, ran an internet café in this house, until the NSU shot him twice. Like the other NSU victims, he was found lying on the ground, executed by the far-right terrorists. He died in the arms of his father.

The NSU crime scenes: a photo exhibition

Michèle Kiesewetter, April 25, 2007, Heilbronn

The police officer Michèle Kiesewetter, aged 22, was shot in her patrol car in Heilbronn. She was the 10th and last murder victim of the NSU terrorist group. The memorial exhibition pursues discussions on the events and coexistence with migrant communities. The exhibition runs through October 29 at the Martin-Gropius-Bau museum in Berlin.

Author: Katharina Abel (eg)