Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) – In the case of the terrorist suspect Franco A., the verdict is expected to be announced on July 5th. The competent Senate of the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt am Main announced this on Monday. At the next upcoming meeting, on June 20, the hearing of evidence is expected to be closed and the pleadings to begin. This applies if unforeseeable developments do not occur, said the presiding judge.
The federal prosecutor accuses Franco A. of planning attacks on politicians. The Bundeswehr soldier, who is currently being released from service, also assumed a false identity as a Syrian refugee – from the point of view of the prosecutors, in order to direct the suspicion of an attack against refugees and to shake confidence in asylum policy.
A. was arrested at Vienna Airport in February 2017 when he tried to get a loaded pistol from a hiding place in an airport toilet. It is not yet known where the weapon came from and what he planned to do with it.
The process has been going on for more than a year. The presiding judge had set June 13 as the deadline for submitting requests for evidence. The defense and Franco A. himself submitted 20 applications on Monday, which should first be processed at the next appointment. This mainly involves reading out the results of investigations and notes in the files.
After that, the representatives of the federal prosecutor’s office could hold their pleas next Monday. Defense attorneys and the defendant would then have their say on June 24 before the verdict was announced on July 5. Franco A. was free in the meantime, but has been in custody again since February.
