process start
They are said to have planned the killing of Linker: four men accused in Thuringia
Four men were charged in Jena. At the start of the trial, they were all silent.
© Schackow / DPA
They are said to have founded a “Nazi neighborhood” in Thuringia and tried to kill leftists: Four men have had to answer to the Thuringian Higher Regional Court since Monday. The start was accompanied by extensive security measures.
At the beginning of the trial of four suspected members of the right-wing extremist group “Knockout 51″ the accused remained silent on Monday before the Higher Regional Court in Jena. However, the defense attorney for the main accused announced for next Monday that his client would like to comment. The lawyer for another accused signaled his interest in a deal with the court and the public prosecutor’s office – which the representative of the Federal Public Prosecutor General refused.”I see no reason for a legal discussion at the moment,” he said.
In the proceedings, the Attorney General accuses the four men between the ages of 21 and 25 of having prepared the most serious crimes. Among other things, they are said to have made themselves punishable by membership in a criminal organization, breach of the peace and various offenses involving bodily harm. Two of the accused are also said to have violated the Weapons Act.
The four men were arrested in early April 2022 in a large-scale attack on the militant neo-Nazi scene. They have been in custody ever since.
Men are said to have targeted killings
The prosecution assumes that the men were members of the Eisenach-based, right-wing extremist martial arts group “Knockout51”. “By April 2021 at the latest, the ‘Knockout 51’ association was also geared towards killing attackers from the left-wing extremist camp in addition to committing physical injuries,” said the representative of the Attorney General at the reading of the indictment. They were said to have planned to kill their political opponents using knives, axes and machetes.
In addition, the main defendant tried to produce a live firearm with a 3D printer. Between February and April 2021, the 25-year-old started to produce the essential parts of a submachine gun.
The Higher Regional Court has currently set hearing dates for the trial until March 2024. The start of the process took place under massive security precautions. Spectators were checked both at the entrance to the courthouse and when entering the courtroom, and numerous police and judicial officers were on duty.