The 2nd NSU Investigation Commission, which was established in the Bavarian State Assembly to investigate the activities and connections of the terrorist organization NSU, which committed racist murders in 2000-2007, listened to Zschaepe, one of the ringleaders of the organization, in the prison in Chemnitz, where he was staying.
“I feel guilty as if I pulled the trigger myself. I put the lives of the two Uwes (Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos) above the victims,” Zschaepe told members of the State Assembly. said.
Speaking for the first time five years after the end of the NSU trial in Munich, Zschaepe also answered questions directly for the first time.
In the NSU trial, Zschaepe had only made written statements, speaking only twice during the trial, including at the sentencing hearing.
Commission President Toni Schuberl told the German media, “We did not expect this. Most people outside the commission thought they would never talk to us.” used the phrases.
NSU’s history
The presence and role of members of the terrorist organization NSU, who killed 10 people, 8 of them Turkish, in 2000-2007, carried out at least two bomb attacks and carried out 15 bank robberies, came to light on 4 November 2011 as a result of coincidence.
The fact that the neo-Nazi terrorist organization could not be detected by German security units for many years, and it was revealed that NSU members had relations with some intelligence informants in the past, caused great controversy in Germany.
The destruction of some documents on far-right groups and the informants used in the Organization for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence service, a few days after November 4, 2011, also created great suspicion.
NSU members Uwe Böhnhard and Uwe Mundlos were found dead in the trailer where they were hiding after a bank robbery on November 4, 2011, and it was claimed that they committed suicide.
Judicial process
The decision in the trial of the terrorist organization NSU, which began in 2013 at the Munich Higher Regional Court, was announced on July 11, 2018, the main defendant Beate Zschaepe was sentenced to “life” imprisonment, and the 4 defendants who aided and abetted the organization were sentenced to prison terms of 2.5 to 10 years. .