> From the centre-left Frankfurter Rundschau > > http://www.fr-aktuell.de/english/401/t401002.htm > > NEO-NAZI PLAYS INNOCENT IN COURT > > Police looked on as German right-wingers attacked > > By Heike Kleffner > > Berlin - The trial of Alexander T. (last name withheld under German law) has > begun at the district court in Luckenwalde. He is accused of being among a > band of right-wing extremists belonging to the "Kameradschaft Germania" > (Teutonic Comradeship) which assaulted a group of German and Polish punks. > > The Kameradschaft boasts a membership of 15 and is recognised as one of the > leading groups of Berlin's far right scene. > > In court, members of the group like to play innocent. On the street, with > strength of numbers, they are prone to acts of extreme violence. > > So it was on July 10, 1999. On that day long-established activists and > right-wing skinheads from Berlin and Brandenburg set off for a day trip to > Hamburg. Once there they were due to join a march of some 600 right-wingers > organised by the neo-fascist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD). > > The march was intended as a protest against the Wehrmacht Exhibition which > explored the involvement of the regular German army in Second World War > atrocities. > > On the return leg of the trip, the two minibusses stopped at the Stolpe > motorway service station where the group came across eight German and Polish > punks. What followed is currently under investigation by the Luckenwalde > district court. > > A member of a Brandenburg state special unit formed specifically to counter > the threat posed by right-wing extremists, the Mega, was called as a witness > to the incident. > > "The left-wingers were sitting quite peacefully in front of their VW > minibus," he recalled, " when suddenly the right-wingers got out of their > vehicles, pulled masks over their faces and started throwing stones and > bottles at the punks." The officer went on to describe how one of the Berlin > group set about his victims with an iron bar. The judge presiding over the > trial asked the poiceman why he and his colleague, who had been tailing the > neo-nazi group, had not intervened. > > "It all happened so quickly and the attack was so violent that we couldn't > intervene," replied the 36-year-old and his gaze fell to the floor. He said > he had chosen instead to call for emergency reinforcements. This decision > ensured the assailants had time to launch a second attack on the young > left-wingers, who sought shelter from the hail of stones and bottles in > their minibus. > > Twenty-eight-year-old Jan S. from Berlin showed the court the scar left on > his face by a flying bottle which only narrowly missed his eye. The punks' > bus suffered damage to the value of 1,500 dollars. > > Shortly after the incident, the 16 assailants were pulled over and arrested > by police answering the call of their colleague at the service station. A > search of their homes turned up propoganda material and offensive weapons. > > For over a year the office of the Schwerin public prosecutor has been > investigating nine adult neo-Nazis and seven juveniles in connection with > the crime. They are charged breaching the peace, grevious bodily harm and > damage to property. > > However, the trial of Alexander T. from Luckenwalde is the first case to > come before a court of law. "There are no other cases being prosecuted at > this time," declared a spokesman for the office of the public prosecutor. > > Alexander T., conservatively dressed in corduroy trousers and a pullover, > leant back before the court and claimed that although he had indeed driven > with his friends to Hamburg, he had slept all the way back to Berlin. > > The trial continues next week with the cross-examination of T.'s "comrades". > > > > > _______________________________________________ > Leninist-International mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To change your options or unsubscribe go to: > http://lists.wwpublish.com/mailman/listinfo/leninist-international
