ExtremismTrial of Two Neo-Nazi Suspects in Killing of German Politician Begins

A German court on Tuesday began hearing the legal case against two neo-Nazis accused of killing a regional German politician last year. The crime shocked Germany and highlighted the steadily growing threat of far-right violent extremism.

The defendants, identified as Stephan E. and Markus H. (Germany’s privacy laws forbids the use of defendants’ last time unless they are convicted), appeared Tuesday at the higher regional court in Frankfurt.

The trial started with the defense team’s request that the trial be suspended and the presiding judge recused for exhibiting bias.

The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reports (also see this analysis) the case focuses on the killing of Walter Lübcke, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkels conservative Christian Democratic party (CDU) who led the regional administration in Kassel in the western state of Hesse. Lübcke was shot in the head on his porch on 1 June 2019 and died in a hospital later that night.

Stephan E. has been charged with Lübcke’s murder, and also with separate charges of attempted murder, serious bodily harm, and firearms offenses.

Markus H. has been charged with being an accessory to the murder and breaking firearms laws. He has been charged with helping Stephn E. obtain and train with firearms.

If the two defendants are convicted, it would be Germany’s first far-right political assassination since the Second World War.

Lübcke was a staunch supporter of Merkel generous immigration policy, which saw more than a million refugees, mostly from Syria and Afghanistan, allowed into Germany in 2015-16. Videos of Lübcke making pro-immigration speeches were shared widely in far-right circles and drew many threats.

Both defendant were in attendance in an October 2015 town hall event where Lübcke, who was known for his blunt oratorical style, said that anyone who did not agree with Merkel’s open-door policy was “free to leave the country.”

Separately, Stephan E. is also charged with stabbing an Iraqi asylum-seeker in the back. When Stephan E. was arrested for Lübcke’s killing last summer, the police found in his apartment the knife used in the stabbing.

In addition to knife, the police found a large arsenal of weapons and munitions in the apartment.

Stephan E., who is 46 years old now, was convicted twenty-seven years ago, in 1993, for a bomb attack on an asylum home. Prosecutors say that since he has been motivated by his “right-wing extremist hatred of refugees.”

Stephan E. does not deny his participation in the attack on Lübcke, but claims that Markus H. pulled the trigger.

Lübcke’s widow and two sons will participate in the trail as co-plaintiffs. A spokesperson for the family said that despite the difficulty, the family felt strongly that it ” wants to send a clear signal against hatred and violence” by taking part in the trial. “One cannot fall silent the face of such violence.”