Dresden Higher Regional Court
Despite years of imprisonment – left-wing violent offender Lina E. is free for the time being
As here in Dresden, people in several German cities showed solidarity with Lina E. – now the convicted violent criminal is free for the time being
© Robert Michael / DPA
Surprise at the end of the verdict at the Dresden Higher Regional Court: left-wing extremist Lina E. is released despite a long prison sentence – for the time being.
Lina E., who was sentenced to five years and three months in prison as a left-wing violent criminal, is released after two and a half years in custody. The arrest warrant against them will be suspended against conditions, said Hans Schlueter-Staats, presiding judge of the State Protection Chamber at the Dresden Higher Regional Court, on Wednesday evening at the end of the verdict. She only has to serve the remainder of the sentence if the verdict becomes final.
Lina E. received registration requirements
She now has to report to the police twice a week, can only change her place of residence noted in the file with the consent of the court and, after her passport, she must also hand in her identity card.
The higher regional court had sentenced the alleged left-wing extremist Lina E. for several attacks on right-wing extremists. It allowed revision.
The decision to issue the arrest warrant was a pleasant surprise, especially for the mother of the 28-year-old, which culminated in frenetic applause and jeers from the supporters around her. “Five years three months is for someone of her age and otherwise severe and serious,” Schlueter-Staats said in the introduction to the student from Kassel (Hesse). The “greatest burden of the process is the status they’ve achieved here,” he noted personally.
After the verdict, riots were initially feared. It was unclear in the evening whether the lifting of the arrest warrant would help ease the situation. Parallel to the verdict, several hundred demonstrators marched through Dresden on Wednesday evening, and there were also solidarity demos in Berlin and Hamburg. The police put the number of participants in the federal capital at around 500. The demonstration was largely peaceful, and there were also some scuffles, it said.