A German court will begin hearing the case against two far-right extremists accused of killing a regional politician whose execution-style slaying shocked the country last year.
Walter Luebcke, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party who led the regional administration in the Kassel area of central Germany, was shot on his porch on June 1, 2019, and died later that night. He was known as a supporter of Merkel's decision to allow hundreds of thousands of refugees into the country in 2015.
Stephan Ernst, a 46-year-old with previous convictions for violent anti-migrant crimes, will appear in the Frankfurt regional court on Tuesday accused of murder, attempted murder, serious bodily harm and firearms offenses.
A second man, identified only as Markus H. due to privacy rules, is charged with being an accessory to murder and breaking firearms laws.