Suspected Neo-Nazi in murder trial says her far-right days in the past
Beate Zschaepe, the main defendant in the high-profile neo-Nazi murder trial in Germany, is accused of being involved in killing 10 people. A Munich court is expected to deliver its verdict in the National Socialist Underground trial on July 11.
Defendant Beate Zschaepe waits for the continuation of her NSU trial at a courtroom in Munich, southern Germany, on July 3, 2018.
Beate Zschaepe, a suspected neo-Nazi gang member on trial for involvement in the murders of 10 people, told a German court on Tuesday that she had left behind any right-wing ideology.
Prosecutors say Zschaepe was part of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), whose members killed eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman over seven years from 2000.
Judges will give a verdict on July 11, the court said on Tuesday, ending a trial that has taken more than five years to complete.
In her closing statement, Zschaepe, 43, said of her neo-Nazi beliefs that "this chapter is closed."
Zschaepe has denied taking part in the murders with two men who killed themselves in 2011 when police discovered the gang by chance. But she has, through her lawyer, said she felt morally guilty for not stopping them.
The prosecution has demanded a life sentence in prison. Zschaepe's lawyers have urged the court to convict her of the lesser charges of arson and robbery.
The NSU attacks were the most violent by a guerrilla group in Germany since the end of the far-left Red Army Faction's two-decade spree in 1991, in which 34 people are estimated to have been killed.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.