High-Profile Neo-Nazi Trial Kicks Off in Germany

Demonstrators hoist posters with the photos of some of those killed by members of a neo-nazi cell, at the Gendarmenmarkt in Berlin, Germany, 23 February 2012. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The trial of the surviving member of a neo-Nazi trio accused of a string of anti-immigrant killings in Germany opened on Monday in Munich.

Beate Zschaepe, 38, is charged with killing eight men of Turkish descent, a man of Greek descent and a policewoman as well as carrying out two bombings and belonging to a terrorist group. She will be tried with four men who are charged with supporting the neo-Nazi trio.

Zschaepe denies the murder charges. She faces life in prison if convicted.

Two of Zschaepe’s fellow neo-Nazi cell members committed suicide in their apartment shortly before she turned herself into the police in November 2011.

The brutal killings took place over a seven-year period.

Ethnic Turkish community groups and anti-racism campaigners demonstrated outside the courthouse on Monday demanding justice. Some suspect the police of institutional racism, which may have helped the neo-Nazis to act with impunity, according to the BBC.

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