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CRIME

Ex-RAF leftist turned neo-Nazi lawyer Mahler gets 6 years in jail

A Munich court on Wednesday sentenced Horst Mahler, a prominent right-wing extremist and former member of the leftist terrorist group the RAF, to six years in prison for incitement of hate crimes.

Ex-RAF leftist turned neo-Nazi lawyer Mahler gets 6 years in jail
Photo: DPA

In November 2007, Mahler admitted to distributing an outlawed book by Holocaust-denier Germar Rudolf, called “Lectures on the Holocaust.” Mahler, 70, also distributed discs of himself giving a speech that called the Holocaust the “most momentous lie in world history.”

His defence attorney plans to take the case to the country’s high court to question the definition of incitement of hatred (Volksverhetzung) in the German penal code.

Before he started supporting the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party (NPD) in 2000, Mahler was a member of the left-wing Red Army Faction terrorist group in the 1970s. He also defended several of the RAF’s members during criminal trials.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his criminal activities as part of the group in 1970. He was released four years early in 1980 with help from lawyer Gerhard Schröder, who later became German chancellor in 1998.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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