Alleged German neo-Nazi acquitted over 'racist' bombing

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An alleged neo-Nazi was acquitted by a German court Tuesday for a bombing 18 years ago targeting Jewish immigrants at a commuter rail station.

Ralf Spies, 52, was cleared of 12 counts of attempted murder with a "racist" motive and a charge of causing an explosion in the attack in the western city of Dusseldorf on July 27, 2000.

The regional court in the city found him not guilty, after having released him from custody in May "for lack of sufficiently reliable witness testimony.”

All the victims were on their way back from a German language course when the explosive, hung in a plastic bag on a fence near the Wehrhahn station entrance, went off, sparking panic.

Ten eastern European migrants – six of them Jews from the former Soviet Union – were injured in the bombing.

A 26-year-old pregnant Ukrainian woman lost her unborn child in the blast.

Commuters stand on a platform at the Dusseldorf Wehrhahn station in Dusseldorf, Germany, January 24, 2018. /VCG Photo

Several of the victims are still in therapy to cope with their trauma, chief prosecutor Ralf Herrenbrueck said at the start of the trial.

The prosecution had called for a life sentence.

Spies was known to police as a right-wing extremist at the time and ran a military surplus store near the scene of the crime, which shocked Germany and drew international condemnation.

(Top image: Defendant Ralf Spies hides his face behind a folder at the district court of Dusseldorf, Germany, July 31, 2018. /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP