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GERMANY: Berlin 5 (1)

01 January 1991

GERMANY: Berlin 5
artdoc August=1994

The Berlin 5 are Kurdish and Turkish anti-fascists who have been
charged with `premeditated collective murder and attempted
murder' following clashes between anti-fascists and members of
the far-right Deutsche Liga/Die Nationalen. The clashes took
place in April 1992 in the Neukolln neighbourhood of Berlin,
which has a large Kurdish and Turkish population, after anti-
fascists discovered the venue of a far-right organisational
meeting. The secretary of the far-right grouping, Gerhard Kaindl,
died as a result of his injuries.
The attack on the meeting was carried out by unknown, masked
anti-fascists, although the police quickly assumed - from
information received from the Deutsche Liga - that the assailants
were Turkish and Kurdish.
The Berlin 5 - Abidin Eraslan, Mehmet Ramme, Fatima Balamir,
Erkan Sonmez and Bahzdin Yoldas - were arrested on the basis of
a statement made by Erkan, who has a history of mental illness,
that was retracted once he had access to a lawyer. Police are
searching for another six people named in his statement.
The severity of the charges against the five, who are due to
appear at a special court in September, has been contrasted with
the treatment and sentences handed out to nazis involved in the
avalanche of racist violence in Germany during 1991-92. Then,
much of the fascist violence was attributed to a lost generation
of (white) german youth suffering the effects of reunification;
this attitude was frequently reflected in light sentences that
were an insult to the victims of the attacks.
The Friends of the Berlin 5 are calling for an end to the trial
and coordinating a campaign of support. They can be contacted at:
International Solidarity Group, c/o Kreuzburo, Grosbeerenstr. 89,
10963 Berlin, Germany. Tel 49-30-251 05 91.

Statewatch, Vol 4 no 4, July-August 1994