German neo-Nazi tells court she is 'ashamed' of her crimes

Convicted German far-right terrorist Beate Zschäpe showed remorse for her crimes on Wednesday, during the trial of an alleged confidante.

"I am ashamed," the 50-year-old former member of the now-defunct National Socialist Underground (NSU) militant group told the court in the eastern city of Dresden.

During her testimony, which lasted several hours, Zschäpe said she had now fully accepted her 2018 conviction, but said it had taken a while.

It was only during her trial that she began to recognize her guilt, Zschäpe said. She had considered the bank robberies committed by her group to be relatively minor offences, but the testimony in court had made her understand the impact her actions had on witnesses.

One witness, for example, was no longer able to work. "Of course that affects you," Zschäpe said. 

The current trial in Dresden's Higher Regional Court is against an individual identified only as Susann E. to protect her right to privacy.

The Federal Prosecutor's Office accuses her of supporting the NSU. She is alleged to have provided Zschäpe with her health insurance card and personal details, among other things.

The defendant is also said to have known about the NSU's racially motivated murders since at least the beginning of 2007. Her husband was sentenced to two and a half years in prison in 2018.

Zschäpe was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2018, and is serving her sentence in Chemnitz Prison.

The NSU consisted of Zschäpe, Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos. From 2000 onwards, the trio committed ten murders across Germany without being detected.

Their victims were nine business owners of Turkish and Greek origin and a German policewoman.

The two men killed themselves in Eisenach in 2011 to avoid arrest.