Jail sought for neo-Nazi band

9 December 2003

BERLIN – Prosecutors have demanded long jail terms for a German neo-Nazi band, contending it was a criminal gang in the eyes of the law because the group’s songs spread racial hatred and Nazi doctrines.

The trio were “terrorists with electric guitars” and “ideological arsonists”, a lawyer for the state said.

The group, Landser, has been on trial in Berlin for six months. Since the end of the Second World War, the spreading of Nazi propaganda has been a serious criminal offence in Germany.

The court was told that printing the group’s CDs abroad and supplying them by mail-order to avoid the scrutiny of German police was “conspirative”. The band had built up an international organization in support of its criminal aims.

In addition to the charge of forming a criminal gang, the defendants are accused of inciting racial hatred, spreading Nazi propaganda, insulting the state and criminal insult.

One of the group’s songs, “Kanake”, had the German lyrics: “Curl up and die, nigger / You’re just a lousy piece of sh** / You’re the end, you’re just filth / You’re scum and you’ve got to go.”

Prosecutors proposed a sentence of 42 months in jail for the lead singer and songwriter, 38, on the grounds that he was gang chief. Terms of 27 and 30 months were proposed for the other two men.

The prosecution said the group bore considerable blame for the spread of the violence-prone neo-Nazi scourge in Germany, and had fans around the world. The group’s name is derived from a term for Second World War German infantry.

Defence counsel are to offer a summing up on 16 December with a verdict from the Berlin state court expected 22 December