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Trial under the highest security precautions: Defendant Abu Walaa in court in Celle (archive picture)
Photo: Ole Spata / dpa
In the trial against the alleged German head of the terrorist militia "Islamic State" (IS), Abu Walaa, his lawyers at the Higher Regional Court in Celle have demanded an acquittal.
The defense argued that the allegation that the Iraqi with the full name of Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A. had radicalized young people was not substantiated by the prosecution or during the taking of evidence by the court.
Abu Walaa and three co-defendants are accused of radicalizing young people, especially in the Ruhr area and the Hildesheim area, Islamistically and sending them to the IS battle areas.
Abu Walaa was the imam of the mosque of the now banned German-speaking Islamic Circle Hildesheim.
The four defendants have been on trial for support for IS and membership in the terrorist militia since September 2017.
The process is considered to be one of the most important German terrorist proceedings.
Lawyers question the credibility of key witnesses
The defense lawyers now also expressed doubts about the credibility of a key witness and a police informant, on whose statements and descriptions the Federal Prosecutor had primarily relied.
This had recently demanded eleven and a half years imprisonment for the preacher.
The Federal Prosecutor's Office relied on a key witness, a young man from Gelsenkirchen.
As a teenager he got into Islamist circles, but later turned away from IS and cooperated with the authorities.
Information from the police's formerly most important informant also played a key role in Islamist circles.
The long-time top informant of the police, known under the names »Murat Cem« or »VP01«, had not received any permission to testify about the terror process.
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fek / dpa
