A 28-year-old German student is standing trial in Dresden accused of founding a criminal organization and committing six serious attacks on neo-Nazis, in an unusual case of violent left-wing extremism in Germany.
State prosecutors say Lina E.* and her three co-defendants — Lennart A., Philipp M., and Jannis R. — carried out a series of attacks on neo-Nazis in the eastern states of Thuringia and Saxony between 2018 and 2020, including two attacks on Leon R., a notorious far-right extremist who was himself arrested for allegedly forming a far-right extremist organization.
The group around Lina E. is believed to have raided a well-known neo-Nazi bar in the town of Eisenach in late 2019 and attacked Leon R. with hammers and batons. When the initial attack failed, the group attacked him again a few weeks later outside his car. Other neo-Nazis were left with broken bones and other injuries after the attacks.
Prosecutors are asking for an eight year prison term for Lina E., who has already spent well over two years behind bars as the long and complicated trial continued, and up to 3 years and 9 months in prison for the co-defendants. The defense called for Lina E. to be convicted only of the lesser charges of attempted bodily injury and theft.
The case has created plenty of political tension, with the defense and far-left scenes in Lina E.'s home city of Leipzig saying that she has been scapegoated as a left-wing terrorist by both the media and the authorities. Many allege that the justice system is too lenient on neo-Nazi perpetrators.
The state prosecutors say Lina E. is still extremely dangerous. Leading prosecutor Alexandra Geilhorn said the defendant had shown no remorse and had not distanced herself from her left-wing ideology. The prosecutor also described what she called the "severe violence" of the attacks, carried out with an "extraordinary extent of criminal energy," coupled with a "notable measure of callousness."
If any German comrade knows how to support her defense, you should drop a link.
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