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Surprise in the Lübcke trial: because a judge had contact with a corona case, the hearing is interrupted. Now it is tested first.
The 29th day of the trial in the criminal case for the murder of Kassel’s regional president Walter Lübcke ended early on Thursday due to a suspected corona. A member of the 5th Senate at the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court had contact with a person last weekend who had developed symptoms and tested positive for the coronavirus, the presiding judge Thomas Sagebiel announced around noon. Although it was a contact at a distance and outside in the garden, the Senate member had to be tested to protect against infection, said Sagebiel. He assumed that negotiations could continue on Monday.
The negotiating state security senate at the OLG consists of four judges and one female judge. Sagebiel did not announce which member of the Senate now has to undergo a corona test. Those involved in the process, i.e. judges, public prosecutors and the lawyers of the defendants and secondary prosecutors, negotiate in the hall without covering their mouth and nose. Witnesses also have to take off their masks so that those involved can see their faces. Visitors and journalists must always wear everyday masks.
It can be assumed that the new delay will disrupt the further timeline for the process. The Senate had originally planned to start pleading from the prosecution and defense as early as the end of November. Judge Sagebiel has been making noticeable pressure for some time not to delay the end of the process. The Cologne lawyer Mustafa Kaplan, who represents the main defendant Stephan Ernst, nevertheless presented two new evidence requests on Thursday and announced more for the coming week. It is unclear whether the judgment against Ernst and Markus H., who has been accused of aiding and abetting, will fall this year.
Because of the short day of the trial, only one witness could be heard. The 56-year-old criminal policeman from Kassel was asked about the investigation into the knife attack on the Iraqi refugee Ahmed I. in Lohfelden near Kassel in 2016. The now 27-year-old was stabbed with a knife and seriously injured. At that time the crime could not be solved, today Stephan Ernst is accused. After the murder of Lübcke, a knife was found at Ernst’s premises, on which DNA traces were found, which an expert almost certainly attributed to Ahmed I.
Shortly after the fact, a special commission with 40 officials was formed, the witness said in court. The investigators had considered a political motive to be conceivable from the start. Recordings from a surveillance camera were found relatively early on, which “triggered a lot of euphoria” in the Soko. The pictures from the evening of the crime, which showed a cyclist, were of poor quality.
A list of people who had already been noticed with knife attacks was later drawn up, the official said. In addition, 31 right-wing extremists who had already committed criminal offenses were approached, including Stephan Ernst. He was on vacation on the day of the act and stated that he was at home.
The official said there were no clues for a house search. Today he is critical of his own work: “Of course we asked ourselves why we didn’t find Mr. Ernst.”
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