Overview
- The Oberlandesgericht München ruled on Tuesday that Zschäpe must serve a minimum of 24 years, which—after credit for time spent in pretrial custody—would keep her in prison until at least 2035.
- Prosecutors had sought a 25‑year minimum and the defence argued for 20 years, and the court settled one year below the prosecutor’s demand while formally recording the shorter term.
- The court said it gave weight to Zschäpe’s later statements in which she acknowledged knowing about nine of the ten NSU murders and expressed shame and a distancing from National Socialist ideology.
- Judges rejected an early suspension of the remaining sentence to probation, finding that her conduct in prison and personal development did not outweigh the gravity of her role in the crimes.
- The decision is not final and can be appealed to the Federal Court of Justice; the case remains tightly linked to the NSU’s record of ten murders, bombings and the lasting harm to victims’ families.