Lübcke trial: court wants to announce judgment in early December

Thomas Sagebiel, the chairman of the State Security Senate, who has to rule on the murder of Walter Lübcke at the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court, is never at a loss for clear words. In the now 26 days of negotiations, almost all those involved in the proceedings have at some point received his unbridled displeasure. If everything goes too slowly for him again. When skirmishes are being fought that he deems unnecessary. When everyone but him is too difficult to understand. Even the bench is not immune from his outbreaks.

But the level of escalation that Sagebiel’s anger reached on Tuesday was new: Because the attorney Dirk Waldschmidt, who was again invited as a witness and first defense attorney for the main defendant Stephan E., allowed his witness to discuss the limits of his right to testify, Sagebiel threatened him unceremoniously with jail . “Mr. Waldschmidt,” said the contentious judge, “now has the choice whether he wants to testify or whether we take him into custody”. Up to six months or until the end of the procedure. The lawyer then preferred to provide information.

A new attempt at finding the truth

At the beginning of September, the long-time NPD functionary and scene lawyer had already been invited as a witness. It was about whether he had advised his client at the time, Stephan E., in his first confession shortly after his arrest, to take all the guilt on himself and to keep the current co-defendant Markus H. out – and whether he would give him financial support from the right in return Scene. Stephan E. claimed that, Waldschmidt denied it decidedly. However, his interrogation had to be broken off at the time because Stephan E.’s wife did not release him from the duty of confidentiality. She too, so she declared in court, had promised support from the circle of comrades and said, in essence, that she shouldn’t worry about the money.

So now, after the somewhat rough clarification of the question of whether the wife’s declaration of childbirth, which has meanwhile been given, is sufficient, a new attempt to find the truth. Not surprisingly, Waldschmidt remained with his portrayal: no misconduct, nowhere. Yes, he had told Ms. E. in various contexts that she had nothing to worry about. But there was never any help from the scene. A subject that he did not raise anyway: “Mr. E. asked me to contact some prisoner aid organization.”

No support for Stephan E. von rechts

If you believe Waldschmidt, then the alleged murderer of the Kassel District President was hoping for support from the extreme right, as NSU supporter Ralf Wohlleben experienced during the Munich trial of the right-wing terror of the “National Socialist Underground”. A tooth that he immediately pulled: “I told him he should take a look at who Wohlleben is and who he is.” A little light, that should mean, compared to a celebrated star of the scene.

In any case: at no point did Waldschmidt seek support for Stephan E. and his family. But the attorney general could have done it, that sounded through – even if he was noticeably tight-lipped when asked about brown support networks. There is probably an “organization that supports national prisoners”, he said, but when a right-wing client approaches him for help, he “cannot simply promise”, he has to “ask around”.

Investigations are pending over Waldschmidt because of Stephan E.’s allegations, ironically initiated due to a criminal complaint by his successor Frank Hannig, who has since been killed and who is now suspected of having manipulated a confession by Stephan E. It was to be expected that his testimony would not be too productive against this background. But even the two other witnesses who were heard by the court on the day of the trial were unable to help clarify the murder of Walter Lübcke.

No alibi via Whatsapp

A woman from Magdeburg, to whom co-defendant Markus H. is said to have sent a WhatsApp message at the time of the crime, confirmed that she had chatted regularly with the 44-year-old. However, she could not remember the cryptic dialogue that, if it had actually been conducted by Markus H. that evening on June 1, 2019, could serve as an alibi. And explain what it could mean, especially not: “Is the mature woman actually on the way?” – “Huhu I’m still with friends uffe.”

A daughter-in-law of Walter Lübcke reported that on the evening of the murder she had heard nothing except for a sound that, as she knows today, was probably the fatal shot. Above all: no argument between her father-in-law and his attacker – or his attackers, if the co-defendant Markus H. should have been there. However, she stayed in a part of the house that was no more than a long way from the terrace: “I couldn’t have been further away from the crime scene in the house.” The value of knowledge here too: low.

And the court seems to assume that it won’t be much different with further witness interviews. The Senate is therefore aiming to announce a verdict as early as December. An ambitious plan. So that he does not fail because of late requests for evidence, Judge Sagebiel urged the defense on Tuesday to hurry: by next week at the latest, please ask what you still have to ask.

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