The biggest trial to focus on far-right extremism in Germany since World War II opened Monday, with five defendants in the dock for a string of racially motivated murders over seven years. The case centres around Beate Zschaepe and the neo-Nazi group she allegedly co-founded that authorities hold responsible for the murders of eight Turkish men, a Greek man and a policewoman.
Zschaepe faces charges of complicity in the murders, attempted murder through bombings, 15 robberies and arson. She could face life in prison if convicted. Her four co-defendants are charged with having provided support to the group, National Socialist Underground (NSU).
The trial was adjourned to May 14, after lawyers representing Zschaepe and Ralf Wohlleben questioned the impartiality of the judges. Zschaepe's legal team lodged their application after defence lawyers - but not prosecutors - were searched for weapons on entering the court. Zschaepe gave herself up after police caught up with the NSU in late 2011, more than a decade after the first of the execution-style murders across the country. The 38-year-old gardener has been dubbed Nazi braut (Nazi moll) in media reports.
The two other known NSU members, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt, died in an apparent murder-suicide in November 2011, when police investigating a robbery closed in on them in the eastern city of Eisenach. Zschaepe, wearing a dark slack suit with a white blouse and round earings, walked into court looking confident and relaxed. She folded her arms and turned her back to the television cameras allowed to record only the arrival at the court.
She has refused to answer questions since her arrest and her lawyers say she will not break her silence in court. Anti-fascist protesters and relatives of the victims were among those who gathered outside the heavily guarded building. Some held Turkish flags and displayed photos of the victims.
One of the protesters held a banner with the words: "Hitler-child Zschaepe, you will pay for your crimes." Another held a black wreath bearing the name Abdurrahim Ozudogru, who was shot in the head in the southern town of Nuremberg in June 2001.
Fatih Demirtas, whose father-in-law was the first alleged NSU victim, told dpa his wife, Semiya Simsek wanted answers. "She wants to know and ask why her family was singled out," he said. The trial, which could run well into next year, is expected to include testimony from some 600 witnesses. It could also shed light on how the authorities botched the investigation into what was widely referred to as the "doner murders," a reference to Turkish kebabs.
For years investigators appeared to regard the murders as the work of a gang of Turkish criminals and treated relatives of the victims as suspects. An admission by the authorities that files on neo-Nazi groups had been shredded sparked the resignation of the head of domestic intelligence and several top officials.
Chancellor Angela Merkel last year apologised to the families of victims. Contrasting pictures of Zschaepe have emerged since her arrest four days after the deaths of Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt, with whom she shared an apartment in the eastern city of Zwickau.
The three grew up together in the former Communist eastern city of Jena. Wohlleben, a former official of the right-wing National Democratic Party, knew the three as teenagers in Jena. Neighbours described a pleasant, warm-hearted young woman who was keen to talk about her cats and pass on gardening tips. Those who knew her from the vast cheerless housing estates in Jena remembered her strong anti-foreigner sentiments and readiness to join in street brawls with opponents of local neo-Nazi groups.