In the spring of 2020, a man shot nine people in Hanau for racist motives. The shooter's father is now on trial again. It's about insult. At the start of the appeal process, the 75-year-old verbally addressed the public prosecutor.
The appeal process against the father of the Hanau assassin before the district court in Hanau has started with delays and detailed statements by the accused. Almost a year ago, the 75-year-old was sentenced to a fine of 5,400 euros for insult in three cases. Both he and the prosecutor appealed against this.
In the trial before the district court, the man rejected the allegations. "There is no offense in any of those three cases," he said. At the same time, he accused public prosecutor Martin Links of "alleged incitement to hatred". They wanted to "silence" him and ruin him financially, according to the accused.
The man is the father of the 43-year-old German who shot nine people for racist reasons in Hanau on February 19, 2020 before killing his mother and himself. In a criminal complaint, his father is said to have described people who took part in a demonstration near his home as "wild strangers".
In addition, the public prosecutor's office had accused him of calling a special task force from Frankfurt, which was deployed in his house on the night of the crime, a "terrorist squad" or "terrorist unit". He is also said to have accused the mayor of Hanau, Claus Kaminsky from the SPD, of “voter deception”, among other things.
The presiding judge also read out the opinion of a psychiatrist who had already attended the proceedings before the district court, and who attested to the man having a delusional disorder with "combat paranoia" and "querulous delusions" and at the same time right-wing extremist ideas. The accused repeatedly addressed the presiding judge, the public prosecutor's office and the press representatives in an angry tone.
Originally, the court had scheduled only one day of hearing. However, after the accused again referred to his hearing problems, which he has been suffering from since he was beaten by police officers in his house on the night of the crime, the presiding judge adjourned the hearing to this Friday.
