Dresden (Saxony), Germany: State Attorneys Challenge Sentence Against the Group “Storm 34” (“Sturm 34”)
The State Attorney of Dresden will appeal against the sentence against the forbidden neo-Nazi group “Storm 34” (“Sturm 34”). Even though several members had received sentences for assault, they had not been found guilty of membership of a criminal organization, an offence the State Attorney sees as important and central to the offenses committed by the members.
In August 2006, two leaders of the extreme right-wing organization “Storm 34” (Sturm 34) were sentenced to prison on grounds of assault. The perpetrators, who are 20 and 23 years old, will have to serve sentences of three and a half and three years. A 19 year old assaultant received two years on probation and two others were found not to be guilty.
The three convicts were members of the Neo-Nazi camaraderie “Storm 34”, which was founded in 2006. They had attacked people of other political beliefs and in some cases gravely injured them. The goal of the organization was supposedly to “clean” the area of Mittweida of foreigners and dissenters. This area of Saxony is considered the center of the right-wing extremist scene. Saxony’s Interior Minister Albrecht Buttolo banned the organization in 2007.
Source: Tagesspiegel.de, 08-12-2008; Spiegel, 08-06-2008
