Rightwing extremist gets life for murder
A rightwing extremist has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a fellow gang member.
Two accomplices were handed 16-year sentences by a district court in the Swiss capital, Bern.
All three were accused of murdering 19-year-old Marcel von Allmen for allegedly betraying their secret racist fraternity, the “Order of Aryan Knights”.
Von Allmen was beaten to death and his body dumped in a lake in February 2001.
During sentencing on Monday, judge Thomas Zbinden said the crime left behind the impression of a plan that had been “minutely planned”.
The 25-year-old leader of the extremist group and his 24-year-old accomplices were all convicted of murder and attempted murder.
The three men were also found guilty of planning the murders of another Swiss citizen and a foreigner between 1999 and 2000.
The public prosecutor had asked for a life sentence for the main protagonist, and 18 years for both his accomplices.
Shock
Four men were originally arrested in connection with the crime, a few days after von Allmen’s body was found. They were all aged between 17 and 22 at the time.
The four told police they had punished von Allmen for breaking the extremist group’s code of silence.
Von Allmen was allegedly lured to the gang’s hideout and beaten to death with an iron bar.
His body, which showed torture marks, was then tossed from an 80-metre-high cliff into the lake. Weights had been tied to his ankles.
District court
The fourth defendant, aged 17 at the time of the killing, was found guilty of murder in December 2001 by a youth court.
The trial of the remaining three suspects was postponed several times to allow for the preparation of psychiatric reports.
Von Allmen’s murder shocked local residents and prompted a series of public protests against violence.
“These proceedings are necessary for the local people to come to terms with what happened,” said the president of the local community, Simon Margot.
Anti-foreigner
The Order of Aryan Knights was reportedly set up in 1999 by two of the defendants to fight against the presence of foreigners in Switzerland.
However, police in Interlaken said they had no record of crimes being committed against foreigners prior to the arrests.
According to Hans Stutz, a specialist on the extreme right in Switzerland, there were 105 racist-related incidents in 2003, compared with 120 in the previous year.
Offences included verbal racism, the distribution of racist leaflets, denial of the Holocaust and acts of violence.
Stutz, who has monitored the rightwing scene in Switzerland since 1989, compiles an annual report on behalf of the Foundation against Racism and Anti-Semitism.
swissinfo with agencies
Three members of the “Order of Aryan Knights” have been sentenced in connection with the death of a 19-year-old gang member, who had revealed the group’s secrets.
The main protagonist was jailed for life and his accomplices each received 16 years in prison.
Marcel von Allmen’s body was found on February 23 in Lake Thun. The killers had strapped metal bars around his legs in a bid to stop his body from floating to the surface.
A fourth defendant was found guilty of murder by a court in December 2001.
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