Post date: May 06, 2013 2:37:56 PM
The trial against a German suspected neo-Nazi murderer has started without delay, according to a Munich court spokeswoman as a lawyer representing the families of two Turkish victims demands Beate Zschaepe give testimony.
MUNICH, GERMANY (MAY 06, 2013) (REUTERS) - A suspected German neo-Nazi accused of a series of racist murders must give testimony in the Munich trial which started on Monday (May 06), the lawyer representing two of Beate Zschaepe's alleged victims said.
As protesters outside Munich's high court held up Turkish flags and photographs of some the victims, Mehmet Daimaguler said "this woman is on trial accused of 10 murders.""So far, it appears she will hide behind her right to remain silent. But she really has to think hard whether with her silence she does her country or herself a favour," said Daimaguler.
He criticised Zschaepe's "appearance," saying she "entered the courtroom dressed like a business woman on a business trip, with a blouse and a skirt, joking with her lawyers as if they were her employees. It was not at all appropriate for the situation."
The chance discovery of the gang, the National Socialist Underground (NSU), which had gone undetected for more than a decade, has forced Germany to acknowledge it has a more militant and dangerous neo-Nazi fringe than previously thought.
Beate Zschaepe, 38, is charged with complicity in the murder of eight Turks, a Greek and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007, as well as two bombings in immigrant areas of Cologne and 15 bank robberies.