Stade, Germany - Five Vietnamese men appeared in a German
court in shackles Monday at the start of their trial for the killings
of seven people during a robbery at an Asian restaurant.
After protests by defence lawyers, presiding judge Hans-Georg
Kaemena reluctantly ordered the leg-irons removed.
The lawyers also objected that they had not received complete sets
of the prosecution files in due time.
Before the indictment could be read, the trial in town of Stade
was adjourned till September 11 to allow the defence more preparation
time. One lawyer also applied for the dismissal of lay assessors
helping the judges.
Only a baby girl survived the mysterious after-hours bloodbath in
February at the Lin Yue restaurant in Sittensen, a peaceful small
town 40 kilometres south-west of Hamburg.
Five staff from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong were
tied up and shot dead along with popular local restaurant owner Danny
Wing Hong Fan, 32, and his 28-year-old wife, both British citizens
and parents of the baby.
Two waitresses, the owners and two male staff lay tied up and dead
in different rooms of the neat walk-up restaurant when the police
arrived. Another man died in hospital.
Lacking confessions, prosecutors say they will use forensic
evidence from police scientists to prove the complicity of the
accused, who include two pairs of brothers. A verdict is not expected
until next year.
The attack, late on February 4, upset Germany's peaceful Asian
community, but police swiftly assured the minority it was a one-off
robbery and not a sign of organized crime or underworld intimidation.
A casual employee, who is among the accused, is alleged to have
suggested the hold-up and sketched the interior of the restaurant to
help the attackers during the raid.
The sketch, found in a car when two accused were arrested on a
highway the day after the killings, is to be one of the exhibits at
the trial.
Three accused face charges of murder and the other two charges of
robbery. All the Vietnamese were long-term residents of Germany
living in or near the city of Bremen.
All 10 defence lawyers complained Monday that they had not been
given complete prosecution files, and that they kept receiving
additional papers from the prosecution until the last minute,
indicating police had not finished the inquiry yet.
Prosecutors are expected to tell the court that a 30-year-old
accused had been described by other accused as holding a pistol while
he stood next to two bodies and speaking later of how he had shot
people.
One defence lawyer challenged the two lay assessors, saying he was
concerned that a German news magazine had obtained detailed
information on the case and published it. Assessors are similar to
jurors but with less power.
Defence counsel Bernhard Docke suggested incriminating evidence
was being leaked 'American style' to the media.
All visitors to court were searched and security was tight. Judge
Kaemena initially justified the use of shackles, saying, 'We've never
had a trial of this degree in modern Germany,' but yielded to the
protests against them by defence counsel.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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