The main suspect in Germany’s most prominent far-right political assassination since World War II has closed his defense in court. He and his alleged accomplice have been linked to the National Socialist Underground.
The lawyer defending Stephan E.*, the neo-Nazi on trial for the assassination of regional governor Walter Lübcke in 2019, made his final statement to the court ahead of next week’s verdict. In the hope of shortening his client’s prison term, attorney Mustafa Kaplan argued that the defendant should be found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder, .
Lübcke, a conservative politician politician in the state of Hesse who defended Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies in 2015 crisis, was killed outside his home in 2019. Stephan E. confessed, though he told the court that he had been helped by his co-defendant, Markus H., another known neo-Nazi, who has denied all involvement.
