Heavy police presence accompanies start of trial of German motorcycle gang

BERLIN, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The start of a court trial of eight members of the notorious German motorcycle club Osmanen Germania was accompanied by a heavy precautionary police presence on Monday.

Eight members of the group, aged between 19 and 46, are accused by state prosecutors in Baden-Wuerttemberg of serious bodily harm, attempted murder, attempted manslaughter, blackmail, drug-related crimes, pimping, and illegal weapons possession.

According to the Interior Ministry of North-Rhine Westphalia, the group recruits Germans and people of Turkish origin and is estimated to count 500 members in total.

Earlier, German special forces shot and killed Hamit P., the group's former global president, during a widely-publicized raid of his Wuppertal apartment.

State prosecutors subsequently explained that police had encountered resistance when they were trying to deliver an arrest warrant for Hamit P. They have launched an independent enquiry into the incident.

Internal police reports describe the former gang leader as armed and dangerous, leading to the inclusion of special forces in his attempted arrest. Amongst others, Hamit P. was believed to have been involved in the suspected attempted murder for which the eight other bikers face trial on Monday. Enditem