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Ex-NPD politician Maik Schneider with a lawyer in the Potsdam Regional Court (archive image)
Photo: Bernd Settnik / dpa
The Potsdam district court has sentenced the former Brandenburg NPD politician and gym arsonist Maik Schneider to a prison sentence of eight years and three months in an appeal process.
"The acts are characterized by considerable criminal energy," said the presiding judge Bodo Wermelskirchen when the verdict was pronounced.
The passage of time since the crimes, which are now around six years ago, has a "considerable" mitigating effect.
The trial was no longer about whether Schneider was guilty or not.
The court alone had to decide the total sentence for several offenses to which the 34-year-old had already been sentenced.
The judgment is not yet final
According to the previous judgment of the regional court, Schneider set fire to a gym in Nauen, Havelland, in which refugees were to be housed.
The building burned down completely.
For this and for other right-wing extremist acts, the Potsdam judges sentenced him to two imprisonment terms in October 2019: seven years and nine months and one year and four months.
An earlier conviction also played a role.
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) confirmed the guilty verdict, but found that the formation of the penalties was incorrect.
The court must pronounce a total penalty.
The Potsdam judgment is not yet final.
ala / dpa