Trial of suspected neo-Nazis begins in Germany
- 11 years ago
Beate Zschaepe enters a Munich courtroom for the most high-profile trial in recent German history.
The thirty-eight-year-old is accused of being a founding member of a neo-Nazi cell blamed for ten murders in a racist killing spree that scandalised Germany and shamed its authorities from 2000-2007.
The chance discovery of the gang, the National Socialist Underground that went undetected for more than a decade, has forced Germany to acknowledge it has a more militant and dangerous neo-Nazi fringe than previously thought.
Four others charged with assisting the NSU will sit with Zschaepe on the bench.
The existence of the gang only came to light in November 2011 when the two suspected NSU co-founders committed suicide after a botched bank robbery and set their caravan ablaze.
In the charred vehicle, police found the gun used to murder all 10 victims and a grotesque DVD presenting the group and claiming responsibility for the killings.
Four days later, Zs
The thirty-eight-year-old is accused of being a founding member of a neo-Nazi cell blamed for ten murders in a racist killing spree that scandalised Germany and shamed its authorities from 2000-2007.
The chance discovery of the gang, the National Socialist Underground that went undetected for more than a decade, has forced Germany to acknowledge it has a more militant and dangerous neo-Nazi fringe than previously thought.
Four others charged with assisting the NSU will sit with Zschaepe on the bench.
The existence of the gang only came to light in November 2011 when the two suspected NSU co-founders committed suicide after a botched bank robbery and set their caravan ablaze.
In the charred vehicle, police found the gun used to murder all 10 victims and a grotesque DVD presenting the group and claiming responsibility for the killings.
Four days later, Zs