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In the process of the terrorist attack of the right against a synagogue in Halle (Saale), the final lectures of the accessory prosecution continued. The lawyer Assia Lewin held the family of the accused jointly and severally responsible for the crimes. “Parents have a great moral responsibility,” he told the Naumburg Higher Regional Court (OLG).
The attorney represents two survivors of the synagogue. At least by “keeping quiet, looking the other way and sweeping under the rug,” the parents, with whom Stephan Balliet lived to the end, would have allowed their son to radicalize and arm himself.
The parents and sister had refused to testify in court, but according to the defendant they knew nothing about the plans. The 28-year-old had responded sensitively to questions about his family in the process. Lewin now said that Balliet would never meet his family at large again and that they should be ashamed of him. Lewin also addressed the accused directly in his closing speech. “His actions were neither brave nor heroic, but cowardly and despicable,” he accused the man. “No one will remember you.”
On October 9, 2019, he attempted to kill 51 people celebrating Yom Kippur, the highest Jewish holiday, at the Halle synagogue. He missed the massive door, then shot passerby Jana L. and then at a kebab shop Kevin S. During the subsequent escape he injured other people. The trial has been taking place before the OLG Naumburg since July, but due to lack of space it is taking place in Magdeburg.
Balliet has confessed the facts and justified them with anti-Semitic, racist and anti-feminist conspiracy theories. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office requires life imprisonment with subsequent preventive detention and the determination of the particular gravity of the guilt. He accuses the accused of, among other things, murder and attempted murder. The court awaits the verdict on December 21.
