Some neo-Nazi helpers may avoid trial

DÜSSELDORF - Doğan News Agency

The Federal Prosecutor’s office has said in a statement that a number of people who helped a neo-Nazi cell, believed to have killed 10 people between 2000 and 2007 in Germany, may not come before justice because of the statute of limitations, a daily newspaper reported.

The statute of limitations for the crimes of helping a terror organization is 10 years in Germany. Because the Federal Prosecutor’s office started a prosecution in November 2011, the linkages before 2001 may not be prosecuted. 

A neo-Nazi association from Thüringen is accused of helping the three members of NSU go underground in 1998. In the summer of 2000, the NSU and the Thüringen group came into contact, but their relations were limited to some small incidents, according to the daily. It added that five people who are currently under arrest in Germany for helping the NSU would not be able to use the statute of limitations.

The aiders who might use the statue of limitations include Adrea E., who was arrested in November 2011 for making a chilling video in 2007 in which the NSU militants claimed responsibility for the murders, according to daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. A group calling itself the National Socialist Underground (NSU) is believed to have murdered 10 people, including eight shopkeepers of Turkish origin. The killings were revealed when two NSU members were found dead in November 2011.