A rally in front of the Tiergarten district court when the trial in the “Neukölln complex” begins (Berlin, 29 August 2022)
The judge has to read the words “Rudolf Hess, that was murder” (sic) and “there is no statute of limitations on murder” more than 30 times. The two neo-Nazis, Tilo P. and Sebastian T., have been spray-painting these slogans in Berlin-Neukölln for years, apparently using the letter “S” in “Hess” as a sigrund and stencils with Nazi portraits. The criminal Hess is with them. They are also known to have carried out arson attacks on leftists such as the politician Ferat Koçak and the bookseller Heinz Ostermann. The two fascists were acquitted of arson charges against political opponents’ vehicles a year and a half ago by the Tiergarten district court due to lack of evidence.
The appeal proceedings began on Thursday at the Neukölln complex of the Berlin-Moabite district court. The negotiations are currently scheduled to last 14 days until the end of November. According to the prosecution office, the two wanted to intimidate those who fight against neo-Nazis. The Tiergarten district court acquitted defendant P. of the charge of arson, among other charges, due to lack of evidence, on December 15, 2022, and defendant T. on February 7, 2023, in the first instance. At the same time, the district court sentenced P. to a daily fine of 150 euros for the damage to property and the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations, 30 euros each, and T. to fines for fraud, damage to property and the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations. The sentence was one year and six months in prison for the crimes of unconstitutional organizations, threats, insults and disturbing the peace. Both the prosecution and the defendants have appealed the verdict. The investigators have counted more than 70 right-wing crimes in Neukölln since 2013. Prosecutors did not indict until August 2021.
It took more than an hour to read the first-instance verdict. Judge Susann Wettley coolly repeated the street names, house numbers and postcodes of the Neukölln settlement area where neo-Nazis “visited” to spread fascist messages and threaten leftists or set up life-threatening incendiary devices. But it was not about the appeal on the first day of the hearing, but rather about T.’s apartment. T.’s apartment rent was paid by the employment center, but she sublet it. Several witnesses were called, including a Bulgarian representative and the defendant’s alleged fiancé, whose apartment has been officially registered since 2021.
“It is truly regrettable that Mr. Osterman and I are once again testifying in this trial after almost seven years. My encounter with the Nazis, who killed me and my parents, has left me with tremendous trauma, has kept me from sleeping and has prevented me from doing important work,” said victim, witness and co-plaintiff Kozak on Thursday. young world. The day of the attack and the fear that followed once again shaped the daily life of the anti-fascist political spokesman, the right-wing and climate-opposition strategy of the Die Linke faction in the Berlin Bundestag, and the daily life of the bookseller Ostermann. . What is particularly frightening is that in addition to the former Neukölln AfD director P., “Der III. Weg” is a group that has recently made headlines in the Berlin area for its fascist martial arts training. This refers to the defendant Sebastian T. Koçak. “It is important to finally take into account that this is not an individual perpetrator who has been terrorizing the people of Neukölln for years, but an organized group,” Koçak said.
However, the threat situation still appears to exist. Only recently did »Der III. Weg” leave a threat in front of Koçak’s house before the trial began.
