From 2000 to 2007, Germany was rocked by a series of racially motivated murders perpetrated by the National Socialist Underground (NSU) terror cell, and now one of the terrorists could secure early release through participating in a deradicalisation programme.
Beate Zschäpe, one of the ringleaders of the NSU terror cell and the only living member to be convicted for her crimes, has recently been accepted onto the ‘Exit’ deradicalisation programme aimed at right-wing extremists.
Victims’ families, however, have expressed deep skepticism about her motivations, urging the federal government to exclude Zschäpe from the programme and calling for financial and legal support.
Michalina Boulgarides, daughter of Theodoros Boulgarides- one of the ten people murdered by the NSU- told German public news outlet Deutsche Welle that Zschäpe’s actions do not appear genuine:
“If she had spoken during the trial or her sentence, maybe even apologised, those affected would also have reacted differently. But she says she is turning her back on the far-right scene, even though it is proven that she has had contact with it during her time in prison. This doesn’t add up for us and isn’t at all trustworthy”.
Boulgarides, along with Semiya Şimşek and Gamze Kubaşık- the mothers of two other victims- launched a petition to object to the deradicalisation programme’s acceptance of Zschäpe, which has so far gathered 5,000 signatures and outlines how victims’ families have witnessed how the convicted terrorist is “being supported in keeping her prison time as short as possible”.
Zschäpe has been in prison since 2011, and would be eligible for a sentence review in 2026.
Families have long fought against what they perceive as a reversal of roles between victim and perpetrator in the handling of NSU-related cases. For years, police investigations have focused more on alleged links between victims and organized crime rather than the murders themselves.
Boulgarides regards the authorities’ seemingly lenient treatment of Zschäpe as a continuation of this phenomenon. Exit, the civil society organisation running the deradicalisation initiative, stated to German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau that while it does not comment on individual participants, the programme generally requires applicants to demonstrate serious reflection on their actions and motivations.
Featured image: Beate Zschäpe
Source: Matthias Schrader via Haute.at
License: Creative Commons Licenses
