Dusseldorf, Jan 13, (dpa/GNA) – Six alleged Antifa members went on trial in the German city of Dusseldorf on Tuesday, on charges including attempted murder, forming a criminal organization and causing serious bodily harm.
The defendants, a man and five women aged 22 to 24, are accused of attacking and injuring neo-Nazis at a right-wing rally in the Hungarian capital Budapest in 2023.
The trial opened in the Higher Regional Court’s high-security wing amid intense public interest. Before the trial opened, some spectators voiced support for the defendants, greeting them with applause.
Two of the accused held up folders bearing the words “Solidarity with Maja,” referring to a suspect currently facing trial in Hungary over the incidents in Budapest. Separate proceedings against other alleged members of the group known as Antifa-Ost are under way in Dresden.
Because four of the six defendants were adolescents at the time of the offence, the court interrupted the proceedings to discuss potentially closing the trial to the public.
The court ultimately decided to hold a public hearing.
The Federal Public Prosecutor has classified Antifa-Ost as a militant left-wing extremist organisation. The group has also been designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
Prosecutors allege that several people in Budapest were attacked using fists, batons and a hammer.
In addition to the Budapest incidents, which took place on the sidelines of an international gathering of right-wing extremists, the defendants are alleged to have attacked and injured a saleswoman working in a clothing store in the German city of Erfurt that was known for selling a brand often worn by right-wing extremists.
The defence lawyers have criticized the charges, calling them “excessive.”
GNA