NSU supporter Wohlleben released after ten years in prison
After years in custody, NSU supporter Wohlleben has been released from prison. The former NPD official had procured the murder weapon for the terrorist group.
Wohlleben completes sentence – release from Burg
Ralf Wohlleben is free. The convicted NSU supporter was released on the morning of 20 May from the high-security Burg prison in Saxony-Anhalt after completing his sentence in full. A spokesperson for the Federal Prosecutor's Office announced this, as reported by Tagesschau.
The Munich Higher Regional Court had sentenced Wohlleben in July 2018 to ten years' imprisonment for aiding and abetting murder in nine cases. In the court's view, the former NPD official had procured the murder weapon for the terror cell "Nationalsozialistischer Untergrund" (NSU) – consisting of Beate Zschäpe, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt. Using this pistol, the group murdered eight men of Turkish origin and one man of Greek descent throughout Germany by 2006.
Pre-trial custody served before the sentence was credited against the term, according to the Federal Prosecutor's Office spokesperson. Wohlleben had filed an application for early release on probation in early 2023 – the Federal Court of Justice rejected this in a final ruling. Wohlleben is today 51 years old.
Katharina König-Preuss, Thuringia state parliament representative and spokesperson for the Left party faction on antifascism and long-serving member of the NSU investigative committees, described the day as a bad day for public safety – particularly for the families of victims. It could be assumed that Wohlleben would be welcomed with open arms in the neo-Nazi scene and would take on a relevant role there again, König-Preuss stated.
Source: Tagesschau