German in dock for ‘racist’ bombing 18 years on
Düsseldorf, Germany, (MILLAT ONLINE):Nearly 18 years after a bombing at a German commuter rail station targeting Jewish immigrants, the alleged neo-Nazi accused of the crime will go on trial on Thursday.
Ralf S., 51, stands accused of 12 counts of attempted murder and causing an explosion for the attack in the western city of Duesseldorf on the afternoon of July 27, 2000. Prosecutors say he had a “racist” motive.
The accused 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 drew international condemnation.
Ten eastern European migrants — six of them Jews from the former Soviet Union — were injured in the bombing.
A 26-year-old Ukrainian pregnant woman lost her unborn child and had to undergo emergency surgery after the blast ripped off one of her feet.
Her 28-year-old husband suffered wounds over his entire body from metal fragments unleashed in the explosion and was in a critical condition for several days.
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.
Duesseldorf police launched a sweeping investigation, following up on hundreds of clues, more than 900 tips from the public and testimony from over 1,000 people without producing a major lead.
They had even questioned Ralf S. for several hours and placed him under surveillance soon after the bombing before determining they did not have enough evidence to arrest him.