Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH), the country’s highest criminal court based in Karlsruhe, southwest Germany, has confirmed the early release of Lina E., the convicted leader of a violent left-wing extremist group known as the “Hammerbande” (hammer gang), news agency dpa reported on May 27.
The Third Criminal Senate rejected an appeal by the Federal Public Prosecutor against the decision of the Dresden Higher Regional Court to suspend the remainder of her sentence on probation.
According to the court, Lina E. “credibly renounced her former willingness to commit violence”, had behaved well in prison and, on the basis of an expert assessment, had a “favourable prognosis” for a law-abiding life outside.
This means that Lina E., who has served about two-thirds of her sentence, including pre-trial detention, is now free.
Lina E., now 31, was the central figure in a left-wing militant network that systematically hunted down alleged right-wing extremists and suspected neo-Nazis in the eastern German states of Saxony and Thuringia between 2018 and 2020.
The Antifa-aligned group, dubbed the “Hammerbande” after its preferred weapon, carried out a series of ambushes. Victims were often attacked at night with hammers, metal bars, baseball bats, pepper spray and other weapons, resulting in serious injuries including broken bones and head trauma.
On May 31, 2023, the Dresden Higher Regional Court sentenced her to five years and three months in prison for founding and leading a criminal organisation, as well as multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm, forgery of documents, theft and coercion. Prosecutors had sought eight years.
The court described her as a leading member who planned and participated in the attacks. The gang used fake IDs, wigs, burner phones, stolen equipment and other methods to plan and carry out its attacks while evading detection.
The conviction became final on March 19, 2025, after the BGH largely upheld it.
Critics argue the ruling once again illustrates a perceived double standard in Germany’s handling of left-wing versus right-wing political violence, and a wider question about the consistent application of the rule of law.
On the Left, Lina E. is regarded as a heroine of the “anti-fascist resistance”, and her conviction was cast as a politically motivated attack.
The trial at the Dresden Higher Regional Court, which began in 2021 and ran for almost 100 days before the May 2023 verdict, was held under tight security because of the risk of riots and political violence.
These included a heavy police presence and identity checks around the courthouse, a helicopter circling overhead during key sessions and strict controls on visitors and media.
Protests and riots broke out in several cities, with clashes with police, thrown bottles and property damage. Police union officials said at the time there had been sabotage designed to endanger officers.
Riots involving hundreds of far-Left radicals in Leipzig, Germany, protesting at the conviction of the activist known as ‘Lina E’, resulted in what a German police chief said was sabotage designed to kill officers. https://t.co/tZ5aQzrKOO
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) June 15, 2023
