Four men accused of planning an unprecedented mass murder in Germany have been sentenced to just five to 12 years.
The outcome of the country’s most important terror trial has shocked many.
So-called Sauerland bombers Daniel Schneider (24), Adem Yilmaz (31), Fritz Gelowicz (30) and Attila Selek (30) were given up to 12 years in jail by the court in Düsseldorf.
Three of the defendants were found guilty of membership of an overseas terrorist organisation and multiple counts of conspiracy to murder.
The fourth defendant was prosecuted as a terrorist supporter.
They planned attacks on US targets in Germany on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU) which is based in the Afghan-Pakistani border region.
Gelowicz, who was considered the leader of the group, was sentenced to 12 years in prison along with Schneider, and Yilmaz 11 years. A five-year sentence was handed down to Selek.
They each had expressionless faces as they discovered their fates.
A “mass murder of unimaginable proportions” was only prevented by the arrest of the four men. So why were they not locked up for good?
Two of the defendants were arrested in the Sauerland region of Germany in September 2007 during preparations for the attack. One defendant was accused of the attempted murder of a policeman during the arrest.
The fourth defendant was later taken into custody in Turkey.
After an initial period of silence, the defendants gave extensive confessions during the trial, which lasted for around ten months meaning the case came to a close much quicker than was first expected.
The defence called for significantly lower sentences than that demanded for by the prosecution because of the confessions of the men. In their view there had never been a genuine threat to the public.
Three of the four defendants again expressed their regret in their final words. The fourth defendant didn’t say anything.
Will this judgement act as a deterrent?
“No,” terrorism expert and consultant Guido Steinberg told TV station N24, “because the group has played no role at all in the terror scene since their arrest in 2007”.
The plans which were at the centre of the trial were already history, he added.
And the information on the bombers’ work and connections which they gave up would also be of little help today.
Steinberg added: “The terrorists described the situation of 2006 and 2007. These facts are only for researchers now. Methods have changed today”.
Radicalisation of young Germans is now handled differently, the expert said. Young people would be radicalised in Germany and then look for a suitable organisation.
Bild.com
