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Terrorism suspect tells German court he will confess
Jun 9, 2009, 10:18 GMT
Dusseldorf - One of four Islamists on trial in Germany for plotting to car-bomb US military bases told the court Tuesday he would confess so as to save time in the long-running case.
Adem Yilmaz, who is a Turkish national raised in Germany, told the court, 'I couldn't care less how long you give me, whether it's 20 or 30 years. I just want to get what we're doing here over and done with. It's boring.'
He requested a meeting with his fellow accused, without their court-appointed defence lawyers present. The judge immediately agreed, and federal prosecutors said they had no objection.
All four accused then left the courtroom for discussions, initially with their lawyers present. Yilmaz, one of the main alleged plotters, has jeered at the trial from the start, often interjecting or refusing to stand up in respect when judges enter the room.
German police arrested Yilmaz and two other accused in September 2007 after they bought chemicals, allegedly to blow up US bases on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a shadowy group said to be as dangerous as al-Qaeda. A fourth man was caught in Turkey.
All four defendants have so far refused to talk to police or to answer questions by presiding judge Ottmar Breidling.
The trial, which began seven weeks ago in Dusseldorf and may last into next year, is one of Germany's biggest ever terrorism cases.
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