As of: February 8, 2024, 12:46 p.m
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A Schleswig-Holstein judicial officer stands in the meeting room of the regional court.
© Angelika Warmuth/dpa
They are said to have stolen equipment from Bundeswehr locations worth around 115,000 euros.
However, the charges against four soldiers were not even read out in the Eckernförde district court.
Eckernförde - The trial for serious gang theft against four soldiers at the Eckernförde district court has collapsed.
On Thursday, at the start of the trial, the court granted the defense's request for bias against a lay judge because of concerns about bias.
The man is a member of the Navy.
“We’re starting over now,” said defense attorney Atilla A. Aykaç after the judge’s decision.
During the trial, the charges against the four men aged 22 to 28 were not even read out.
The public prosecutor's office accuses the soldiers of stealing Bundeswehr equipment worth a total of around 115,000 euros.
The acts are said to have occurred between January 28th and May 22nd, 2022.
The soldiers are said to have stolen digital cameras, special headphones with a speaking set, compasses, radios and binoculars.
According to the court, the public prosecutor's office is accusing the men in a total of four cases in different constellations of gang theft, damage to property and conspiring to commit a crime, specifically serious arson.
The men are said to have committed burglaries in various Bundeswehr buildings.
The crime scenes were in Alt Duvenstedt (Rendsburg-Eckernförde district), in Eckernförde and in Seedorf in Lower Saxony.
They wanted to create a source of income by reselling the equipment.
In one case, the defendants are said to have intended to cover up signs of a break-in by setting fire.
According to the information, this ultimately did not happen.
In a further indictment, the public prosecutor's office accuses a 22-year-old of having handled explosive substances as an adolescent in Itzehoe on May 22, 2022, among other things, without the necessary permission under the Explosives Act.
The soldier is said to have possessed or manufactured various weapons without permission.
He is accused of violating the War Weapons Control Act.
During a search, emergency services found weapons and various items used to make explosives and explosive devices.
dpa