Verdict due in trial of far-right terror group 'Letzte Verteidigungswelle'

Hamburg's Hanseatic Higher Regional Court is scheduled to announce its verdict on Wednesday in the trial of seven alleged members and one supporter of the far-right terrorist group 'Letzte Verteidigungswelle'. The young defendants face serious charges, including attempted murder, arson, and dangerous bodily harm.

According to the indictment, the group is accused of carrying out and planning arson and explosive attacks targeting asylum seeker accommodations and left-wing facilities. They are also alleged to have engaged in "pedo-hunting," a practice of pursuing individuals they believed to be pedophiles.

Due to the defendants' ages at the time of the alleged offenses – between 14 and 21 – the public was excluded from the trial after the indictment was read in March. Both the closing arguments from the federal prosecutor's office and the defense were held behind closed doors.

Five of the accused were arrested in May of the previous year during large-scale raids across Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, and Hesse. Three others were already in pre-trial detention. Searches had previously taken place in Saxony and Thuringia.

Just days after the trial began, the federal prosecutor's office ordered searches of premises in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein, targeting ten additional suspects. In late June, two more teenagers were arrested in Thuringia as alleged members of 'Letzte Verteidigungswelle'.