Stade, Germany - After preliminary skirmishing with defence
lawyers, a German court began Tuesday the main part of the trial of
five Vietnamese men for robbing and murdering seven staff at a
Chinese restaurant.
The reading of the indictment formally launched the trial, which
had been delayed by defence motions.
A previous hearing had come to nothing when defence counsel
claimed key papers were served too late and the judges were biased.
The court overruled the objections.
The court in the town of Stade, near Hamburg, rejected a new
challenge Tuesday that alleged bias by one of the Vietnamese
interpreters helping the accused.
Lawyers also said the defendants had not understood the
translations by the team of court-paid Vietnamese interpreters who
had attended last month's hearing. The judge replied that the trial
would proceed.
Seven people were tied up and killed in the attack after the
restaurant closed late on February 4.
Five staff from Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Hong Kong were
tied up and shot along with popular local restaurant owner Danny Wing
Hong Fan, 32, and his 28-year-old wife, both British citizens. Only
their baby survived.
It was one of the bloodiest armed robberies in Germany for half a
century.
Police say three Vietnamese entered the restaurant in the country
town of Sittensen to steal valuables at gunpoint and may have killed
the workers in a panic. The other two defendants were part of the
plot, police say.
The defendants have denied to police that they were the killers
and the prosecution is to mainly bring forensic scientific evidence
gathered at the scene of the crime.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
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