Impunity and de-politicisation of right-wing violence
The massive far-right violence of the 1980s and 1990s often went unpunished. Although years of public upholding of National Socialism and the denial of the Shoah by Hamburg neo-Nazi functionaries such as Michael Kühnen and Christian Worch led to several prison sentences and the banning of the ANS, a large number of right-wing attacks were never prosecuted. Perpetrators were often not even identified and when criminal proceedings and convictions were handed down, the sentences were mostly lenient.
Far-right violence was often trivialised as a clash between "rival youths", not only by the investigating authorities, but also in the media and the general public. Both the political dimension and the real threat to immigrants, Jews, left-wingers and queer people were ignored. The de-politicisation of far-right acts of violence is also evident in the handling of the murders of Mehmet Kaymakcı and Ramazan Avcı:
On 24 July 1985, three racist skinheads beat Mehmet Kaymakçı to death with a concrete slab in Kiwittsmoorpark in Hamburg-Langenhorn. "We wanted to finish off the Turk," testified Frank-Uwe P., a former German border guard who was involved in the murder. Five months later, Ramazan Avcı died after an attack by racist skinheads at the Landwehr S-Bahn station in Hamburg-Eilbek.
The murder of Ramazan Avcı in particular came as a shock to many immigrants. Some Hamburg politicians were horrified by the racism that the incident revealed. Others, however, firmly denied a racist motive behind the crimes and claimed that they were regrettable isolated incidents. The police and judiciary also refused to recognise any political motive.
In the trial against the three skinheads who killed Mehmet Kaymakçı, the public prosecutor claimed in his plea:
"The motive for this horrific act was not hatred of foreigners. It was the terrible culmination of an ordinary pub brawl. [...] Each of the defendants brought their own personal problems with them, which then erupted in excess during the incident."
Zitiert nach: Hamburger Abendblatt, 11. April 1986
In the case of the murder of Ramazan Avcıs, the police commissioner also ruled out a political motive.
Five skinheads arrested after the incident were charged with manslaughter rather than murder. They received prison sentences of between 1 and 10 years. In addition to Ralph L., three other members of the Lohbrügge Army skinhead group had to stand trial, including the younger brother of Hamburg neo-Nazi leader Thomas Wulff. He knew one of the investigating police officers personally, as the officer’s son was also a skinhead.
The de-politicisation, the lack of prosecution, and the lenient sentencing led neo-Nazis to believe that they could threaten and assault people with impunity, both in the eyes of the law and the public. Some of them are still active today.
