Status: December 15, 2021 4:32 a.m.
The BGH announced today whether the judgment against the NSU supporter André E. is final. The Munich Higher Regional Court sentenced E. 2018 to two and a half years in prison. The Federal Prosecutor’s office appealed against this.
André E., an avowed right-wing extremist, was an important supporter of the NSU terror cell. He had obtained mobile homes several times for the two murderers Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, which they used to commit robberies and an bomb attack.
Did E. also know about the murder plans? Was he privy to it? According to press judge Kai Hamdorf from the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) after the hearing two weeks ago, that is the key question in the appeal proceedings. He explained:
The Senate made it clear today that the main focus of the appeal proceedings is the intent of the defendant. In relation to the goals of the NSU, and what resolution it had at what point in time.
Acquitted on essential points
The lower court, the Munich Higher Regional Court, had seen no evidence that E. was aware of the murder plans. The judges therefore acquitted him on essential points. They sentenced him to two and a half years in prison for supporting a terrorist organization – too little from the point of view of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office. Their representatives believe that E. must have been privy to the murder plans.
The federal prosecutor’s office had demanded twelve years imprisonment before the Munich Higher Regional Court. With the appeal to the BGH, she would now like to achieve that E. is also found guilty of aiding and abetting attempted murder. According to Federal Prosecutor Jochen Weingarten, the written judgment of the Munich Higher Regional Court contains legal errors. That is why the BGH must overturn the judgment, so Weingarten: “If the BGH follows our view, then another criminal division of the Munich Higher Regional Court will have to renegotiate and decide the matter.”
Judgment is not tenable, even according to the secondary suit
The representatives of the co-plaintiffs also hope that the BGH will overturn the judgment of the Munich Higher Regional Court. Lawyer Edith Lunnebach represents the victims of the NSU bomb attack in Cologne. She is also of the opinion that the lower court judgment is not tenable:
“We believe that the overall appraisal lost sight of the fact that for a very long time – from 1998 to the end of the trio in 2011 – he must have known in what circumstances they lived and what ideological prerequisites for later acts were given to them were. He consciously supported that. That is our conviction. “
The Federal Court of Justice will announce its decision in the late morning.
File number 3 StR 441/20