A Hamburg judge has ruled that the Ukrainian suspect’s vow of silence won’t protect him
A German court has rejected an attempt to end the trial of Nord Stream bombing suspect Sergey Kuznetsov, after the defendant’s lawyers claimed that he cannot be convicted without a confession.
Kuznetsov, a Ukrainian military officer whom German prosecutors claim carried out the sabotage of the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in 2022, stayed silent in the opening hearing of his trial earlier this month. As Kuznetsov was an active duty soldier at the time of the bombings, his legal team claimed that he cannot be forced to defend himself without divulging state secrets, and filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him.
The Higher Regional Court of Hamburg rejected the motion on Tuesday. “According to German law, the defendant is not restricted in his defense,” presiding Judge Anne Meier-Goring told the court, explaining that the terms of Kuznetsov’s service in Ukraine do not apply in Germany.
Kuznetsov is accused of causing an explosion, disrupting public utilities, property damage, and being an “accomplice to war crimes.” He has neither admitted nor denied carrying out the attack.
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