German court gives suspended sentence to neo-Nazi for supporting NSU terror group

A German court on Friday gave neo-Nazi Susann Eminger a suspended two-year sentence for supporting the far-right NSU terror group, responsible for a string of racist murders and bomb attacks.

The Higher Regional Court in Dresden convicted the 45-year-old for supporting a terrorist group in three cases and aiding an armed robbery after prosecutors said she supplied identity documents to a key NSU figure. Prosecutors had sought a four-year prison sentence.

The outcome is expected to frustrate victims' families and critics who argue it fails to reflect the gravity of helping sustain one of Germany's deadliest far-right terror networks.

The NSU murdered 10 people – eight Turkish immigrants, one Greek citizen and one policewoman – between 2000 and 2007. The group also carried out bombings that injured dozens and financed its operations through bank robberies.

Prosecutors said Eminger provided her personal identity card and health insurance card to Beate Zschaepe, allowing the terrorist to live under a false identity while in hiding. They also said she helped rent a camper van used in one of the group's final robberies in 2011.

Eminger remained silent during the trial. She is married to Andre Eminger, who was convicted in 2018 for supporting the NSU.

The German public learned of the NSU's existence on Nov. 4, 2011, after Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Bohnhardt died by suicide following a failed bank robbery. Zschaepe, the group's only surviving core member, later surrendered to police and is serving a life sentence.

For years, police and intelligence services dismissed a racial motive in the murders of immigrants and instead suspected the victims' families of links to organized crime.

Later revelations showed Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, had multiple informants with ties to NSU suspects, although officials insisted the agency had no prior knowledge of the terror group or its murders.

The scandal exposed shortcomings in Germany's security apparatus and fueled accusations of "institutional racism," as well as criticism that authorities underestimated the threat of far-right extremism.

Critics say the suspended sentence for Eminger, despite her direct assistance to the NSU, shows accountability for the broader support network behind the terror group remains incomplete.