German court jails far-left extremists for neo-Nazi attacks

By AFP

A court in Dresden on Wednesday sentenced a left-wing extremist woman to more than five years in jail for attacking neo-Nazis, with Germany's interior minister warning against "vigilante justice".

The principal defendant, identified only as Lina E., and three other suspects were convicted for participating in a "criminal organisation" that carried out several assaults against right-wing extremists between 2018 and 2020.

"Opposing right-wing extremists is a respectable motive," said judge Hans Schlueter-Staats while issuing his verdict.

But such attacks are still "serious criminal acts", he said, underlining that the state must retain a "monopoly" on the use of force.

Prosecutors had argued in their closing statements that there "is no good political violence" and sought eight years in prison for Lina E.

The defence had urged the judge to acquit the accused, saying that the prosecution had based its case mainly on the statements of a former member of the group who is currently in a witness protection programme.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement that the case showed the "significant danger" posed by the far-left militants who have become less inhibited in attacking political opponents with "extreme brutality".

"This radicalisation and spiral of violence must not be allowed to continue," she said, adding that "there must be no room for vigilante justice in a democratic constitutional state".

- 'Militant ideology' -

Prosecutors said the group planned the attacks intensively, including by spying on their victims.

In one attack in October 2018, the group's members kicked and beat a right-wing extremist in the eastern town of Wurzen, leaving him with serious injuries.

In October 2019, they carried out an assault on the owner and several customers of a restaurant popular with neo-Nazis in the central town of Eisenach.

The owner and several people accompanying him were also assaulted two months later on the streets.

The four defendants shared a "militant far-left ideology", said prosecutors.

E. and her partner Johann G. -- who is still at large -- are believed to be ringleaders of the group.

The trial, which lasted a year and a half, was held under tight security.

Ahead of the verdict, police were bracing for far-left violence as the radical scene has threatened "a million (euros) worth of property damage across the country" for every year of imprisonment handed down by the court.

Far-left activists have also called a demonstration in Leipzig on Saturday.