According to the key witness in the trial of alleged left-wing extremists around student Lina E., the accused are said to have regularly practiced scenarios for attacks on neo-Nazis. Different constellations were assumed, depending on whether those affected expected an attack or not, said the 30-year-old on Friday in the Dresden Higher Regional Court (OLG). During the training sessions, however, there were no agreements about specific actions.
In the afternoon, the witness described that targeted attacks on the head were also being trained. However, this was not associated with an intention to kill. But they wanted to harm the people as a consequence of their right-wing extremist actions.
In the process, the student Lina E. (27) from Kassel and three men from Leipzig and Berlin are on trial. The federal prosecutor accuses them of beating up members of the right-wing scene in Leipzig, Wurzen and Eisenach between 2018 and 2020. They are also accused of forming a criminal organization, of which Lina E. is seen as the head. The defense considers this accusation to be fabricated and speaks of a "politicized procedure". All four have so far remained silent on the allegations.
The so-called 215 list was also discussed at the hearing on Friday. On January 11, 2016, hooded neo-Nazis and hooligans attacked the Leipzig district of Connewitz, which is popular with leftists, leaving behind a scene of devastation. The mob burned cars, smashed windows, set off pyrotechnics and tried to set up a barricade. At that time, the left-wing scene had demonstrated in the city center against Islamophobic and xenophobic Legida supporters - the Leipzig offshoot of Pegida. Later, 215 suspects for the attack on Connewitz were identified.
It was about "working off" this list, said the witness. The fiancé of the main defendant, Lina E., tried to contact right-wing extremists via fake profiles on Facebook. The man himself is not sitting in the dock in Dresden, he has gone into hiding. The star witness also claims to have received reports and letters of confession from him about accomplished deeds. However, the example he gave did not refer to one of the cases that are being charged at the Higher Regional Court.
According to his own statements, the key witness was on duty as a "scout" and was only marginally involved in one of the accused acts. But before that he is said to have spied out information about right-wing extremists for the scene. Since he revealed himself to the security authorities, he has been considered a traitor in the left-wing extremist scene. Because of a possible threat, he is additionally protected in the security room by several officers. He is to be questioned again.
The hearing ended turbulently in the afternoon. Defense attorneys loudly protested a question from the co-plaintiff's representative, saying it was a relativization of the Holocaust. The co-plaintiff attorney, on the other hand, saw himself belittled. A young woman left the room screaming and insulted the key witness.
Lina E. is in custody, the co-defendants are at large. In front of the courtroom, there was another demonstration on Friday for the 27-year-old's release. A letter from her mother was also read out, protesting that her daughter had been in custody for 638 days and was being taken to every hearing in a convoy and in handcuffs and shackles.
