Trial against left-wing extremist
The court sentenced Lina E. to several years in prison
05/31/2023 11:01 am
One of the most sensational trials against left-wing extremists in recent years is coming to an end in Dresden. The court sentenced the defendant Lina E. and three other people to prison terms for founding a criminal organization. There are protests in front of and in the courtroom.
The Dresden Higher Regional Court has sentenced left-wing extremist Lina E. to five years and three months in prison for several attacks on right-wing extremists. The State Protection Chamber imposed prison sentences of between two years and five months and three years and three months on the three co-defendants. Supporters and sympathizers protested loudly in the hall against the verdict. After the sentence had been announced, the presiding judge, Hans Schlueter-Staats, interrupted the hearing because spectators chanted “Faschofreunde” and “Fucking class justice” to the bench.
According to the state protection chamber, the 28-year-old student and a co-defendant of the same age are guilty of membership in a criminal organization; a 37-year-old and another 28-year-old for their support. E. and two of them were also accused of dangerous bodily harm, a fourth accused of aiding and abetting. The state protection chamber remained under the criminal complaints of the federal prosecutor’s office, which had demanded eight years’ imprisonment for E., who came from Kassel in Hesse, and between two years and nine months and three years and nine months for the three men.
The allegations against Lina E. and the other suspects weighed heavily. The Federal Public Prosecutor accused them of brutally beating up actual or supposed supporters of the right-wing scene in Leipzig, Wurzen and Eisenach between 2018 and 2020. E. is considered the head of the group by the prosecution. In at least two cases she is said to have been in command. A key witness had incriminated the accused. According to the indictment, 13 people were injured, two of them potentially life-threatening. Another allegation was that the accused had rejected the democratic constitutional state as well as the state monopoly on the use of force.
Accused remain silent on allegations
The process, which is subject to high security precautions, began in September 2021. At this point, Lina E. had been in custody for ten months while the men remained at large. Except for personal information, the accused remained silent on the allegations. Only Lina E. took the chance at the “last word” and thanked her parents, relatives, all supporters and defenders. At that point, she was already aware of the possible sentence.
For the defense, only acquittals were possible after the course of the trial, they consider the trial to be politically motivated and conducted in the wrong place. The mere fact that the Federal Public Prosecutor took over the investigation led to higher criminal charges, they argued in their pleadings. They saw their clients exposed to prejudice and accused federal prosecutors of using different standards when convicting right-wing and left-wing criminals. The court was accused of being biased.
When the verdict was announced, Lina E. in particular was received by relatives and supporters in the hall with thunderous applause, standing ovations and chants and celebrated for minutes. They protested when the sentence was announced, and spectators insulted the court. In front of the building on the outskirts of the city, in which the high-security hall of Saxony’s judiciary is located, several dozen supporters, mainly from Leipzig, demonstrated and expressed solidarity with Lina E.