BERLIN

A German court sentenced a right-wing extremist to nearly six years in prison on Thursday for sending dozens of death threats to prominent figures, which were signed with the neo-Nazi alias "NSU 2.0.”

The Frankfurt Regional Court found Alexander Horst M. guilty of threats of violence, incitement to hatred, attempting to disturb public peace, and use of anti-constitutional symbols and handed him a five years and 10 months prison sentence.

The 54-year-old extremist had sent threatening emails, fax messages to prominent figures, including social democrat Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, cabaret entertainer Idil Baydar, and prominent lawyer Seda Basay-Yildiz in the past couple of years.

The messages were signed with the neo-Nazi alias “NSU 2.0” – referring to the National Socialist Underground (NSU) – a terror group that killed eight Turkish immigrants, a Greek citizen, and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

The accused, an unemployed IT technician, was arrested in Berlin last year after a long investigation, but the police could not determine how the suspect obtained non-public personal information of the prominent figures.

Prosecutors claimed that Alexander Horst M. called police stations, introduced himself as an officer, and accessed information belonging to the politicians and lawyers.

Lawyer Basay-Yildiz criticized authorities for not investigating the possible involvement of right-wing police officers in the state of Hesse, who searched her address and personal records at the police computer.

“Several right-wing police officers were most probably involved in death threats sent to me and my family. But so far none of them have been brought to justice. Instead, the prosecutors claim that the threatening letters were sent by one suspect, an unemployed IT technician,” she said.

Basay-Yildiz is a prominent figure in Germany, where she was born and raised, and is known for her efforts to shed light on the racist murders of the NSU. She represented families of the Turkish victims during the high-profile NSU trial between 2013 and 2018.