Tag: nsu

AFP: Turkey FM: German neo-Nazi murders must not go unpunished

(AFP) – 12 hours ago

BERLIN — Turkey’s foreign minister said Saturday that a killing spree of mainly Turkish immigrants in Germany between 2000 and 2007 was “a racist attack that should not go unpunished,” as he visited victims’ families in Berlin.

At a closed-door meeting with families, Ahmet Davutoglu vowed that Turkey would keep a close eye on the high-profile case that has shocked and shamed Germany, according to a foreign ministry official.

On Monday, the hotly anticipated trial opened of 38-year-old Beate Zschaepe, accused of being at the heart of the murderous neo-Nazi cell that called itself the National Socialist Underground (NSU).

Zschaepe denies the charge of complicity in the murders of eight ethnic Turks, a Greek immigrant and a German policewoman.

via AFP: Turkey FM: German neo-Nazi murders must not go unpunished.

May 12, 2013
Turkey’s media has a watchful eye on NSU trial

Turkey’s media has a watchful eye on NSU trial

Turkish media closely watched the opening of the NSU trial in Munich on Monday. Newspapers describe the feelings of the victims’ families and the main defendant’s attitude in court.

Beate Zschäpe’s appearance in room A 101 of the Munich court on Monday was the main topic in many Turkish newspapers a day later.

“Nazi-bride in a Hitler pose,” the paper Habertürk headlined, showing a photo of Zschäpe with folded arms next to an image of Adolf Hitler in a similar pose.

Other Turkish papers also commented on the main defendant’s attitude on the first day of the trial. On its front page, Hürriyet calls Zschäpe an “impudent Nazi”, emphasizing that the 38-year-old turned her back on the court and the relatives of the eight Turkish NSU victims. The day in court, the paper continues, was a stage for the defendant’s “show.”

Air of defiance

The papers report Zschäpe’s appearance in the courtroom deeply affected the relatives of the NSU victims present for the trial. Sabah and other papers quote Dilek Özcan, the daughter of Ismail Yasar – shot dead in 2006 in Nuremberg – as saying she “shivered when she saw Zschäpe and felt deep hatred.” A tearful Özcan is reported to have added she was certain Zschäpe would get her just punishment.

Semiya Simsek wants to know why her father was singled out

Other relatives focused on the many open questions in the trial. Enver Simsek’s daughter Semiya says she wanted to know why neo-Nazis singled out her father of all people as a victim. According to the Vatan daily, she says her trust in the Federal Republic of Germany has been destroyed by the murders.

Offended by a crucifix

The Turkish media are particularly interested in the court’s shedding light on the bungled investigation. The Milliyet daily terms the trial “Germany’s Nazi check.” However, even ahead of the trial, commentators doubted the German judiciary was up to the task. Speaking to Turkish reporters before proceedings began in Munich, Ayhan Sefer Üstün, chairman of the human rights committee in the Turkish parliament, expressed hopes for a just verdict, despite the defense’s obvious delaying tactics. “That is what we expect and we will continue to keep a close eye on developments,” he said.

Opened and adjourned

Not all Turkish observers were as open-minded, however. Mahmut Tanal of the opposition CHP party and a member in Üstün’s delegation, called for the removal of a crucifix from the courtroom. He argued the Christian symbol is a “threat” to all non-Christians that contradicts the principles of a secular constitutional state.

Anti-democratic forces

The court’s upcoming assessment reminds some Turkish observers of the situation in their country. The Star newspaper compares the NSU trial with proceedings against the nationalist killer of Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. Zschäpe, the prime suspect in the German case, presented herself with as much defiance as Dink’s murderer, Ogün Samast – who, according to Dink’s lawyers, had willing supporters from within the Turkish state.

Erdal Safak, chief editor of Sabah – the Turkish paper whose German subsidiary successfully complained to Germany’s highest court about the allocation of seats for foreign media at the trial – also draws a comparison with Turkey.

The Munich trial is about Germany’s “deep state,” Safak says, referring to the Turkish term for an interdependence of rightwing forces in the state and violent criminals.

The Turkish government regards members of the alleged ultra-nationalist underground network Ergenekon, currently on trial in Turkey, as representatives of the “deep state” that planned to seize power from elected politicians. That is why Turkish organizations must continue to keep a close eye on the NSU trial, Safak says: after all, the “German Ergenekon” is on trial in Munich.

via Turkey’s media has a watchful eye on NSU trial | Germany | DW.DE | 07.05.2013.

May 8, 2013
Trial of German Neo-Nazi Is Delayed Over Media Concerns – NYTimes.com

Trial of a Neo-Nazi in Germany Is Delayed Over Media Concerns

By MELISSA EDDY

BERLIN — After weeks of outrage in Germany and Turkey over how seats for members of the foreign news media were allocated at the trial of a prominent neo-Nazi, a state court in Munich said Monday that it would delay the opening of the trial by three weeks to allow for a new accreditation process.

Reuters

Beate Zschäpe

The decision — only two days before Beate Zschäpe, the sole survivor of a neo-Nazi cell that killed 10 people, was to go on trial — was met with a mixture of relief and anger. Representatives of the relatives of victims expressed frustration that the court had waited so long to find a solution to a problem that had drawn in government officials.

Revelation of the cell’s existence in late 2011 shocked Germans and raised questions about how security authorities could have failed for the better part of a decade to stop the group from killing minorities. The cell’s members killed eight men of Turkish descent, a Greek and a German policewoman.

Among the most dismayed at the trial’s delay were the victims’ relatives, many of whom had made travel arrangements and taken time off from work to attend the trial, said Barbara John, the ombudswoman appointed by the German government to represent their interests.

Jens Rabe, a lawyer for Kerim and Semiya Simsek, whose father was the cell’s first victim in 2000, called the last-minute decision “more than annoying.”

“The delay of the trial opening is the result of the court’s unyielding position and refusal to accept criticism or constructive suggestions for solutions,” Mr. Rabe said.

Since it became clear last month that no Turkish journalists were among the 50 reporters — out of more than 100 who applied — to be guaranteed a seat in the courtroom, calls for their inclusion spread from the news media to politicians in Turkey and Germany.

On Friday, Germany’s highest court ruled in favor of a Turkish journalist who had filed a petition to be allowed into the courtroom, citing what he called an unfair distribution of seats. The journalist, Ismail Erel, an editor at the Turkish newspaper Sabah, had argued to the constitutional court in Karlsruhe that the e-mail informing him about the accreditation arrived 19 minutes later than at several German newspapers, enough of a delay to jeopardize his chances for a guaranteed seat.

Officials including Philipp Rösler, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s deputy, and Germany’s minister for immigrant affairs, had urged the court to show “sensitivity” in handling the Turkish media’s appeals to attend the trial.

Margarete Nötzel, a spokeswoman for the Munich court, said in a statement that given the constitutional court’s ruling on Friday, “a new accreditation process will be necessary. ” She gave no details about how the process would be conducted.

A version of this article appeared in print on April 16, 2013, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Trial of a Neo-Nazi in Germany Is Delayed Over Media Concerns.

via Trial of German Neo-Nazi Is Delayed Over Media Concerns – NYTimes.com.

April 17, 2013
German Court Delays High-Profile Neo-Nazi Trial

By FRANK JORDANS Associated Press

BERLIN April 15, 2013 (AP)

The trial of the sole surviving member of a neo-Nazi group alleged to have carried out a deadly terror campaign against Turks in Germany has been postponed following complaints over courtroom access for foreign reporters.

Margarete Noetzel, a spokeswoman for the Munich regional court, said Monday that the start of the trial against Beate Zschaepe, 38, and four men alleged to have helped the group, would be delayed from Wednesday until May 6.

This was to allow for a new allocation of seats after Germany’s highest court ruled last week that there must be sufficient places for foreign reporters in the courtroom, she said.

Noetzel was unable to say by what criteria the seats would now be distributed and whether there would be places reserved specifically for Turkish reporters.

A lawyer for relatives of the group’s alleged first victim expressed frustration at the postponement.

Jens Rabe, who represents the son and daughter of Enver Simsek, a businessman killed in 2000, said the Munich court had ignored constructive proposals on the allocation of media seats until it was forced to change course.

For many of Germany’s 3 million residents of Turkish descent, the trial has become a test of their adopted home’s willingness to treat them as more than second-class citizens.

Eight of the group’s 10 alleged victims were of Turkish origin. The self-styled National Socialist Underground is also accused of killing a Greek man and a policewoman, as well as carrying out two bombings and 15 bank robberies.

Turkish media had missed out on any of the 50 press seats during the first allocation — which was conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis — prompting harsh criticism from officials in Turkey.

The public in Turkey has closely followed the neo-Nazi case and Turkish media have praised the German Federal Constitutional Court’s decision, which has now paved the way for some Turkish journalists’ access to the courtroom.

Several Turkish newspapers carried front-page stories on the issue in recent days, with some noting that even Turkey’s ambassador to Berlin wasn’t guaranteed a seat at the trial.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle warned last week that the trial risked shaping perceptions of Germany abroad and urged the court to consider giving foreign media better access.

The existence of the neo-Nazi group only came to light by chance in November 2011, when two of its three core members died in an apparent murder-suicide after a botched bank robbery.

For years, German authorities had dismissed a possible far-right motive in the killings and focused instead on the victims’ alleged links to foreign criminals.

Several high-ranking security officials have resigned over the past two years after acknowledging serious failures in their handling of the case.

———

Ezgi Akin in Ankara, Turkey, contributed to this report.

via German Court Delays High-Profile Neo-Nazi Trial – ABC News.

April 16, 2013
Turkish media to challenge exclusion from neo-Nazi trial

Turkish media to challenge exclusion from neo-Nazi trial

Limitied accreditation for Munich trial draws sustained criticism

The press gallery in the courtroom where the trial against suspected NSU member Beate Zschäpe will take place. Turkey’s Sabah newspaper said it was going to the German constitutional court in Karlsruhe to demand a seat reservation. Photograph: Michael Dalder/Reuters

Derek Scally

Turkey’s Sabah newspaper is to appeal to Germany’s highest court over its exclusion from the trial of a woman accused of involvement in a neo-Nazi murder series.

Eight of the 10 victims of the neo-Nazi NSU underground organisation killed between 2000 and 2007 were Turkish citizens but no Turkish media organisation has been granted guaranteed seats for this month’s trial of suspected NSU member Beate Zschäpe.

Yesterday Sabah said it was going to the German constitutional court in Karlsruhe to demand a seat reservation. The mass-market Hürriyet is considering joining the complaint.

“We believe the freedom of the press and freedom of information also applies to Turkish-speaking journalists here in Germany and we too want to follow this case live,” said Sabah editor Ismael Erel. “Trials must be public, even for people of Turkish descent in Germany.”

The Munich courtroom assigned for the NSU trial has only 50 seats reserved for the media. Some 82 media organisations, including The Irish Times , have been accredited but put on a reserve list with no guarantee of access to proceedings.

The Munich court has declined to look again at its first- come, first-served accreditation process. It has refused to move proceedings to a larger courtroom or allow a closed-circuit transmission to another courtroom. German legal opinion is divided over whether such a transmission could leave the proceedings open to later challenge.

German media outlets granted access have been refused permission to transfer their accreditation for Turkish colleagues.

The Turkish ambassador to Germany said he planned to attend the trial to support relatives of NSU victims, though no seat has been reserved for him either.

“It is only natural that I will be with the victims’ families there and accompany them on this difficult path,” he said. “It is my job and of course my duty to be there.”

via Turkish media to challenge exclusion from neo-Nazi trial – European News | Latest News from Across Europe | The Irish Times – Fri, Apr 05, 2013.

April 6, 2013
Turkey appeals for media seats at terror trial

The Turkish foreign minister has appealed to his German counterpart to allow Turkish media into the trial of the last surviving member of a neo-Nazi terror cell accused of killing ten people, eight of whom were of Turkish origin.

The request was made during a telephone call and comes after the Munich Higher Regional court rejected a petition by the German government to reserve two seats in the courtroom for the Turkish ambassador, as well as the Human Rights ombudsman of the Turkish parliament.

The court has awarded just fifty permanent courtroom seats to journalists. But Turkish media failed to secure a single one. The court claims it processed applications for accreditation as and when they came in, but politicians and the media have called the process bureaucratic and insensitive.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle was keen to stress his commitment to transparency: “Given the unhappy back story to this case, assuring complete clarity and openness in the criminal process involving the awful crimes carried out by the NSU should be a matter of utmost concern.”

Kemal Yurtnac, president of the Overseas Turks and Relative Societies (YTB) said he hoped those responsible would “soon acknowledge their mistakes.”

The NSU terror cell is accused of ten murders. As well as the eight victims of Turkish origin, a Greek man and a German policewoman were also killed. The trial of the last surviving leader of the terrorist cell, Beate Zschäpe, begins on 17 April.

DPA/The Local/kkf

via Turkey appeals for media seats at terror trial – The Local.

April 1, 2013