NSU-Terroristin: Zschäpe will Haftentlassung - Anhörung in München

Beate Zschäpe, convicted of her role in the NSU terror murders, is seeking early release from prison and has appeared before the Munich Higher Regional Court (OLG) in a closed-door hearing. The hearing, which lasted around one and a half hours, was held to prepare a decision on how long Zschäpe must remain in custody. Zschäpe was sentenced to life in prison in 2018 for being an accomplice to the NSU murder series, a string of ten murders in Germany between 2000 and 2011, five of which occurred in Bavaria.

The court also deemed her guilt to be particularly grave. This means that an early release after 15 years is highly unlikely, as the deadline for such a release expires in November, following Zschäpe's admission to pre-trial detention in November 2011. Her attorney, Mathias Grasel, has requested that his client receive a maximum sentence of 20 years.

Zschäpe is currently incarcerated in the Chemnitz prison in Saxony and had to be transported to Munich for the hearing. In 2019, Zschäpe successfully completed a program for ex-neonazis. The National Socialist Underground (NSU) was a terror cell consisting of Zschäpe, Uwe Mundlos, and Uwe Böhnhardt, who committed ten murders between 2000 and 2011, five of them in Bavaria.

Their victims included nine Turkish and Greek business owners and a German policewoman. Mundlos and Böhnhardt also carried out two bomb attacks in Cologne, causing dozens of injuries. Böhnhardt and Mundlos committed suicide in 2011 to avoid capture, which brought the NSU to light. Zschäpe, the only remaining member of the trio, was convicted as an accomplice, even though there is no evidence she was present at any of the crime scenes.