BERLIN
The trial against the far-right National Socialist Underground -- which is alleged to have killed ten people, eight of them Turks, in Germany between 2000 and 2007 -- entered its 100th day on Tuesday.
A lawyer for the relatives, Aziz Sariyer, told Anadolu Agency that “delaying tactics” have caused the trial to drag on.
"I don't think that we will shed light on the background of the murders with this trial," Sariyer said. "The only one who can do this is the main suspect, Beate Zschaepe. But she has used the right to silence since the beginning and I don't think that she will speak."
Sariyer said he expected the trial would continue into next year.
He said the witnesses from extreme right-wing circles who have testified have not been questioned closely enough.
"They use pretexts like, we don't remember, don't know anything, or much time is passed by. This is a tactic. They see that the judge does nothing," Sariyer said.
"We want to investigate the connections of the NSU but the Attorney General's Office is trying to block this," he said, using the acronym for the National Socialist Underground. "They give us answers to our repeated questions such as, 'There are no connections,' or 'Nothing to do.' But if there is no link, let us decide about this."
He said he believed there is information that German domestic intelligence officials have not revealed because they are trying to protect themselves.
This trial is seen as one of the most important in recent German history. Eleven months after the start of the case, 99 sessions have been held.
The main suspect is Zschaepe, who has exercised her right to remain silent. The two other members of the alleged National Socialist Underground terrorist cell, Uwe Bohnhardt and Uwe Mundlos, reportedly died in a murder-suicide following an attempted bank robbery in 2011. Zschaepe's lawyers say she will remain silent throughout the trial.
The Munich State Supreme Court has 88 more sessions planned this year. The case involves killings and bombings in different states.
Seda Basay Yildiz, a lawyer for the relatives of Enver Simsek, who was allegedly slain by the National Socialist Underground, told AA that they have requested the files from the investigation into the killing of Halit Yozgat in an internet cafe in Kassel in 2006 when a domestic intelligence employee where present, but the attorney general has not handed them over.
"They made promises at the beginning, 'We will answer your questions,'" Yildiz said. "But the Attorney General hasn't given us the files we have repeately requested for six months. This creates questions. As a lawyer, I don't understand this and can't explain this to my clients."
Yildiz said that while only five defendants were on trial, he believes that many more people were behind the National Socialist Underground.
"My biggest concern is that these four or five people will be judged and then the case will be closed," she said. "It seems that some people want this. But the files show us that the NSU does not consist only of three people. There are many more people behind them. This case should not be covered up. Therefore, we need the help of the media
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