Court rejects new evidence motions in German neo-Nazi trial

BERLIN – Judges in a high-profile German neo-Nazi murder trial have dismissed motions from defence lawyers to introduce new evidence, and accused them of trying to further delay proceedings.

Lawyers for Beate Zschaepe , the only known survivor of the National Socialist Underground cell suspected of killing 10 people, had been due to begin making their final statements in the five-year trial Tuesday.

But lawyers for one of the group’s alleged supporters, Ralf Wohlleben, sought to challenge the provenance of a gun used in most of the killings.

Judges rejected the motion and a separate request by Zschaepe to fire her three court-appointed lawyers. Two other alleged members of the neo-Nazi group died in an apparent murder-suicide in 2011.

The trial at Munich’s regional court is expected to last at least until May.