Trial without publicity: young people accused of right-wing terrorism

Mark's (name changed) hair is parted and gelled, the light scalp shines through the close-cropped sides, and he has dark down on his upper lip. Unlike his three co-defendants, he does not cover his face. He looks confidently into the cameras that are let into the courtroom for a few minutes at the start of the trial.

The indictment accuses Mark and the three others of, among other things, using the symbols of unconstitutional organizations, robbery and extortion, and grievous bodily harm in several cases. Young people are sitting in the dock in front of the district court in Hamburg-Bergedorf.

In 2024, Mark is said to have written “Sieg Heil” once and “Heil Hitler” twice in the WhatsApp group of the right-wing extremist youth organization Last Defense Wave. The last wave of defense most recently attracted media attention in the summer, when the Hamburg Higher Regional Court imposed prison sentences on eight young people. The young people were convicted of, among other things, attempted murder, arson, membership in a terrorist organization and grievous bodily harm. The last wave of defense planned arson and explosive attacks on asylum seekers' homes and left-wing facilities.

In addition, members are said to have carried out so-called pedo-hunting - i.e. hunting for people who they considered to be pedophiles. This is also what the current trial in Bergedorf will be about.

His little sister Ronja (name changed) sits next to Mark and looks into space; she is 16 and a year younger than him. She looks tired beneath her hair, which is also strictly parted, and she doesn't look towards her parents, who are also in the room. Bekzod (name changed), 20 years old, sitting to the right of Mark, says he is confused that he has to be here today and Matthias (name changed), 16 years old, responds to the judge's question about his marital status with: "What is that?"

The prosecution's allegations are not trivial. Together with another person, Mark is said to have insulted a person waiting at a bus stop as a “foreigner pig” and threatened to slash them. His potential accomplice, whose case is being heard separately, is said to have described herself and Mark as “Nazis” and “skinheads”.

The accused young people are also said to have “hunted pedophiles” twice with other people in different compositions. In one case, they are said to have met an 18-year-old in front of an inn in Geesthacht who supposedly wanted to meet a 14-year-old. They are said to have held a knife in front of him and forced him onto a forest path under the threat of beatings. He was supposed to empty his pockets there. When he tried to escape, Mark is said to have beaten him with a telescopic baton and kicked him with combat boots. Before running away, Ronja, Matthias and another person are said to have pocketed the 18-year-old's cell phone.

Another time they are said to have visited a 19-year-old in his apartment in a youth facility in Billstedt. He is said to have asked Ronja, who was 15 years old at the time, to take a nude picture. Mark, Bekzod and two other people are said to have demanded 1,000 euros in “damages” from the 19-year-old under the threat of beatings. When he said he couldn't pay, Mark asked him to kneel down. When he complied, Mark's alleged accomplice kicked him with combat boots. Bekzod filmed - probably because Mark asked him to. The young people left the apartment without the money, but with the victim's Adidas jacket.

Filming crimes is common practice in the Last Wave of Defense. According to the report by NDR journalist Hannes Stepputat in a Deutschlandfunk podcast, the administrators of the chat group demanded corresponding videos from potential members as an “entrance test”. It is mainly about damage to property, although there are also cases in which participants attacked other people in order to spray the Last Defense Wave logo on their bodies.

Four days after the first attack on the 19-year-old in Billstedt, Mark and his accomplice are said to have returned to the youth residential facility - this time Mark's sister Ronja was also there. Again they are said to have demanded 1,000 euros. The 19-year-old had to kneel down again, and this time Mark allegedly kicked him with combat boots. Bekzod probably didn't want to film this time, so a third party is said to have taken over. In both cases of “pedophile hunting,” the “hunted” suffered bruises and pain that lasted for several days.

When the indictment is read out, Mark first blushes, then puts on a superior expression. The other young people look at the ground, into space or cover their faces. The public is then excluded. Because young people need protection. The fact that the press was tolerated at all when the indictment was read out was due to the fact that, at the age of twenty, Bekzod was the only one who was no longer considered a youth before the law, but rather an adolescent.

The case is being heard by a juvenile jury, meaning the defendants are likely to face prison sentences of over a year. A juvenile judge is responsible for criminal proceedings in which the expected prison sentence is less than one year. Five further dates have been scheduled so far, and a verdict is expected in mid-November.