Will the life sentence for Stephan Ernst become final or will the murder of District President Lübcke be reopened? The Federal Court of Justice will now decide on this.
A good three years after the murder of Kassel’s District President Walter Lübcke, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) is today pronouncing its verdict on the appeals. The main question is whether the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt am Main has to deal with the case again.
It had sentenced the right-wing extremist Stephan Ernst to life imprisonment in January 2021 and determined the particular gravity of the guilt. This means that early release from prison after 15 years is legally possible, but in practice it is almost impossible. The 48-year-old is currently in custody.
The Higher Regional Court saw it as proven that Ernst had shot the CDU politician in the head late on June 1, 2019 at home on his terrace at close range. He had projected his xenophobia onto Lübcke since he had spoken out in favor of taking in refugees at a town meeting years earlier.
The OLG sentenced the co-defendant Markus H., a friend of Ernst from the right-wing scene, to a suspended sentence of one and a half years for a weapons offense – but not as accused of being an accessory to the murder of Lübcke. He was released in October 2020.
Relatives have a clear wish
The family of the deceased and the federal prosecutor’s office primarily complain about this last decision of the Frankfurt court. They are convinced that the 46-year-old played a much more central role in the assassination. He practiced shooting with Ernst and ultimately strengthened his will to act. The survivors even consider him a direct accomplice. The relatives and the federal prosecutor’s office have therefore appealed.
Ernst himself had changed his testimony several times in the Frankfurt trial and at times accused H. of having been with him at Lübcke’s and – in one version – even holding the gun. However, the Higher Regional Court judges did not consider this to be credible.
In the oral hearing at the BGH in Karlsruhe at the end of July, the widow Irmgard Braun-Lübcke said: “It is important for us that we learn the whole truth.” The previous verdict still leaves a few questions unanswered “that we would like to have clarified”. It’s all about the last minutes of her husband’s life: was there, for example, another exchange of words or was he shot in an ambush?
The accused also appealed. Ernst’s lawyers, for example, object to the reservation of preventive detention after imprisonment.
The third criminal senate at the BGH examines the OLG judgment exclusively for legal errors. He heard no witnesses and presented no evidence. The presiding judge Jürgen Schäfer did not reveal any tendencies at the hearing almost a month ago.
In addition to the Lübcke case, the proceedings also concern an attack on an Iraqi asylum seeker. Someone attacked the man in early 2016 and stabbed him in the back. The federal prosecutor considers Ernst to be the perpetrator, but could not convince the OLG judges. The victim also acts as a joint plaintiff.
Source: Stern
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