BERLIN, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Ralf Wohlleben, a convicted accessory to the "National Socialist Underground" group in Germany, has been released from prison on Wednesday.
The Munich Higher Regional Court confirmed that it had lifted an earlier arrest warrant against Wohlleben which was issued in the course of long-standing NSU investigations by authorities.
The former official of the right-wing extremist National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD) was recently found guilty of providing the NSU leaders Uwe Boehnhardt and Uwe Mundlos with a silenced "Ceska" pistol used to murder at least nine individuals in an anti-immigrant killing spree.
Wohlleben was sentenced to 10 years in prison for acting as an accessory to the NSU but has by now already spent nearly seven years behind bars. By allowing him to walk free on Wednesday, the judges at the Munich Higher Regional Court followed a recommendation by the Federal Public Prosecution Office that additional jail-time for the 43-year-old was no longer necessary.
The decision came in response to the filing of a formal request by Wohlleben's defense attorney for the old arrest warrant to be removed again. According to a court spokesperson, German judicial authorities had no information about the whereabouts of the convict since he left the Stadelheim penitentiary facility in Munich on Wednesday morning (CET).
Prosecutors in the NSU trial accused Wohlleben of being aware that Boehnhardt and Mundlos intended to use the weapon he provided to carry out their far-right murders. Wohlleben consistently denied this accusation, claiming he had only given the actual person handing over the gun advice on where to get it rather than supplying it directly.
In his final plea, senior public prosecutor Jochen Weingarten said that Wohlleben had taken over the role of "chief supporter" and "central control of assassination" after the NSU trio comprised of Boehnard, Mundlos and Beate Zschaepe, went underground.
The so-called "Bosporus Serial Murders" witnessed the killing of one police officer and nine civilians with migratory backgrounds by the NSU. Many attacks took place in broad daylight at food markets, street food stalls or kiosks where the victims were shot at point-blank range with the silenced firearm in question.
Boehnardt and Mundlos escaped trial themselves by committing suicide in 2011 after the involuntary uncovering of their organization in a failed armed robbery attempt. In their absence, Zschaepe was sentenced to life in prison as the primary suspect in the NSU trial.
The prosecution originally demanded a higher twelve-year jail sentence for Wohlleben as an accessory to the violent crimes of the NSU. Nevertheless, Wohlleben's defense insists that their client is innocent and has announced that it will challenge the final verdict of the Munich Higher Regional Court on the federal level.
