Suspected neo-Nazi denies carrying out 2000 bomb attack targeting Jews

25 January 2018, 5:45 pm

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Nearly 18 years after a bombing at a German commuter rail station that targeted Jewish immigrants, an alleged neo-Nazi denied the crime as he went on trial today.

Ralf Spies, 51, is facing 12 counts of attempted murder and a charge of causing an explosion for the attack in the western city of Dusseldorf on the afternoon of July 27, 2000.

Spies 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 shocked Germany and drew international condemnation.

At today’s hearing, he tells the court that he had not carried out the bombing and didn’t know who had, DPA news agency reports.

“I was definitely not at the scene of the crime at the time it happened,” he says.

— AFP