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Beate Zschaepe, Dubbed Germany's 'Nazi Bride,' Speaks in Court

“Today I judge people not by their origin or political stance, but by their behavior,” the last surviving member of a right-wing terrorist trio said.
Image: Beate Zschaepe
So-called "Nazi Bride" Beate Zschaepe arrives in a Munich court on Thursday.MATTHIAS SCHRADER / POOL / EPA

MAINZ, Germany — The "Nazi Bride" has spoken.

After more than three years on trial, the last surviving member of a right-wing terrorist trio accused of several murders addressed a Munich court on Thursday.

In a brief statement read aloud, Beate Zschaepe told a Munich court that her one-time nationalist views have changed.

Image: Beate Zschaepe
So-called "Nazi Bride" Beate Zschaepe arrives in a Munich court on Thursday.MATTHIAS SCHRADER / POOL / EPA

“Today I judge people not by their origin or political stance, but by their behavior,” she said, according to German press agency DPA.

Zschaepe — dubbed the “Nazi Bride” by Germany's tabloid press — stands accused of belonging to the National Socialist Underground (NSU), a neo-Nazi terror cell allegedly behind at least 10 murders. The gang also conducted two bombings in immigrant areas of Cologne and 15 bank robberies, according to prosecutors.

The statement Zschaepe read aloud Thursday — which reportedly also included an apology to victims — was the first time the court heard her voice but not the first time it heard her words.

A written statement from her was read in court by her lawyers last December. In it Zschaepe denied directly participating in murders but acknowledged feeling "morally guilty" that she could not prevent the crimes.

The two other known members of the cell — Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boehnhardt — were found dead in a burnt-out RV after an apparently bungled bank robbery in 2011.

Zschaepe turned herself in to police shortly after and has been on trial since 2013.