Overview
- On June 27, 2026, the 25th anniversary of Süleyman Taşköprü’s murder, the city of Hamburg and the commissioned research team filed for a judicial decision at the Oberlandesgericht Karlsruhe to compel release of Hamburg LKA case files.
- Hamburg has commissioned an interdisciplinary scientific review rather than a parliamentary inquiry, and that review lacks power to hold public hearings, subpoena witnesses, or require testimony under oath.
- The federal prosecutor, the Generalbundesanwalt, has so far refused to free key LKA documents—reported as 141 hand files—blocking researchers and delaying the review’s ability to examine original evidence.
- Relatives say police in Hamburg misdirected the investigation for years by suspecting the victim’s family instead of a racist motive, a failure that survivors and counselors say deepened trauma and fuels the family’s demand for a public parliamentary committee.
- An upcoming final report from the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern NSU inquiry, due in July 2026, and the Karlsruhe court ruling could increase pressure for wider institutional reforms and shape how Germany grants researchers and parliaments access to sensitive police records.