German top court upholds life sentence for neo-Nazi behind murders of Turks

Duvar English - Reuters

A German high court on Aug. 19 said Beate Zschaepe, a member of a neo-Nazi group that targeted ethnic Turks and other minorities in a seven-year killing spree, could remain in prison for the rest of her life because of the gravity of her crimes.

The Federal Court of Justice said in a statement it had rejected her appeal against her conviction on 10 counts of murder, ruling that her crimes were of such gravity that she could be held in prison for longer than the standard life sentence of 15 years.

There can be no further appeal. The exact duration of her sentence will be decided during her imprisonment, which could in principle last until her death. Media reports give her current age as 46.

Zschaepe was among the ringleaders of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a gang that killed eight people of Turkish background and one of Greek ethnic background between 2000 and 2007 as well as a policewoman.

She handled the group's logistics and finances, setting up safe houses for the killers.

The ringleaders, Uwe Boehnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, who are believed to have carried out the killings, died before they were arrested in what may have been a murder-suicide.

The court also upheld the convictions of two further accomplices, Ralf Wohlleben and Holge Gerlach, who were given shorter sentences for their roles in the murders. 

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