The trial of six men charged with the murder of a fellow Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) started in western Germany on Tuesday under police protection.
Five of the six men, all of whom were members of the club at the time of the crime, were alleged to have killed and dismembered a fellow member suspected of disloyalty in January 2014.
The club is a worldwide outlaw motorcycle club whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles.
The club was founded on March 17, 1948 by Otto Friedli in Fontana, California, United States.
In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Common nicknames for the club are the “H.A.”, “Red & White”, “HAMC”, and “81”.
With a membership between 3,000 and 3,600 and 467 chapters in 59 countries, the club is the largest motorcycle club in the world.
Many police and international intelligence agencies, including the United States Department of Justice and Europol, consider the club an organized crime syndicate.
The defendants, aged between 35 and 46, did not respond to the accusations at the trial in Duisburg.
“The killing was intended as a means to get rid of a traitor and thereby strengthen the position of the Hells Angels,’’ read the indictment.