The criminal case against the former professional footballer Deniz Naki began on Friday at the Aachen Regional Court.
The public prosecutor's office accuses Naki, who was born in Düren in 1989, for dangerous bodily harm, severe extortion, arson and drug trafficking, among other things.
According to the investigators' findings, Naki was one of the ringleaders of a local branch of the Bahoz criminal organization.
The former German U21 international, professional at FC St. Pauli and SC Paderborn, has to answer in court together with three other men of Turkish nationality.
All four defendants have Kurdish roots.
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Political correspondent in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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The activities of the local Bahoz group are said to have included drug trafficking and racketeering.
According to the public prosecutor's office, the former Bundesliga player boasted that he did not talk for long, but also hit him.
At times he used every opportunity to violently deal with rival groups.
Once he set a car on fire.
At the beginning of 2018, Naki hit the international headlines when his car was shot at while driving at night on the autobahn near Düren.
Naki saw himself as a victim of a politically motivated act.
After a soccer game in Turkey - where he was last active - Naki had also commented on the Turkish-Kurdish conflict.
No evidence of political background
From security circles, however, it was said even then that it could not be ruled out that the case might have a different background. In fact, the prosecution found no evidence of a political background. For the trial against Naki, who has so far defended himself in silence, 39 main hearing days are initially planned.