Police clashed with protesters in at least one German city on Wednesday after a woman was convicted of involvement in multiple attacks targeting neo-Nazis and members of right-wing extremist groups.
According to Leipzig police, around 800 people gathered in the city after the verdict, with an unknown number trying to break through police barricades, according to ABC News. Some also threw projectiles, including rocks and fireworks, at police. There were also demonstrations in Hamburg, Berlin and Bremen.
The 28-year-old woman, identified only as “Lina E”. He was sentenced to five years and three months in prison after being convicted by a Dresden court of being a member of a criminal organization and causing grievous bodily harm due to Germany’s strict privacy laws. Three co-accused were also sentenced to prison terms.
Within hours of the sentencing, the court announced that Lina E. would be released under unspecified conditions. She had been in custody for two-and-a-half years before Wednesday’s sentencing.
Prosecutors charge Lina E. with possession of “A militant far-left ideology” He was also involved in a series of attacks on prominent neo-Nazis in Germany. The charges against the accused allege she carried out six violent attacks between August 2018 and summer 2020, injuring 13 people. Two of them suffered life-threatening injuries.
In one instance, a man later convicted of founding a right-wing extremist group was attacked with hammers, clubs and pepper spray.
In closing comments, the judge presiding over the case said right-wing extremism posed a far greater threat to Germany than any left-wing group associated with Lina E. However, he added that Nazis had the same rights as any other citizen of the country, even if their ideology was abhorrent.
Throughout the trial, which began in September 2021, Lina E. has emerged as a prominent figure within left-wing and anarchist subcultures in support of activism against neo-Nazism and right-wing extremism. The slogan “Free Lina” can often be seen in graffiti in Berlin, Hamburg and Leipzig.
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