The Munich court handling the historic trial of neo-Nazi Beate Zschäpe on Monday adjourned proceedings until May 14 after her lawyers accused the presiding judge of being biased because he had ordered them to be frisked for weapons before entering the courtroom. Members of the prosecution weren't subjected to searches. 
 
 The adjournment on the first day is a fresh indication that the trial, which is being closely watched in Germany and abroad, especially in Turkey where most of the victims came from, will be lengthy and complex. The prosecution didn't even get a chance to read out the charges. 
 
 Zschäpe, 38, dubbed the "Nazi bride" in the German media, is believed to be the sole surviving member of the National Socialist Undergroundterrorist group that claimed responsibility in 2011 for murdering nine immigrants, eight of them of Turkish descent and one Greek man, as well as a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007. 
 
 The other two members, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Böhnhardt, committed suicide in November 2011 after a botched bank robbery. Only after that did their involvement in the killings come to light. 
 
 Shortly after the trial started, Zschäpe's lawyers filed a motion claiming that judge Manfred Götzl was unfit to run proceedings because the weapons searches placed them under suspicion of "being involved in forbidden and criminal actions." 
 
 The judge then ordered the adjournment to consider their motion, along with another motion brought by a co-defendant. 
 
 The police never seriously considered that the motive may be racismand instead suspected that the victims, who included a flower seller, a grocer and a part-time tailor, themselves had links with criminal gangs. 
 
 The case has alarmed the country's 3 million people of Turkish descent and has been a huge embarrassment to Germany because of the catalogue of errors made by the police and security authorities that exposed them to accusations of institutional racism and of having been blind to the threat of right-wing extremism. 
 
 Last month, Germany apologized for those errors at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, describing the murders as "without a doubt one of the worst human rights violations in Germany in the last decade." 
 
 Chief Prosecutor Herbert Diemer warned on Monday against expecting too much of the trial. "The court proceedings are focused on the crimes and on the people charged with those crimes," he told a news conference. "It cannot be the aim of the trial to clear up possible mistakes made in past investigations and proceedings." 
 
 Zschäpe Silent But Defiant 
 
 Zschäpe walked into the courtroom smartly dressed in a white blouse and black blazer, with her arms crossed defiantly. She wasn't handcuffed and quickly turned her back on the photographers and film cameras, and on the relatives of the victims desperate finally to see justive done. She chatted quietly with her three lawyers and seemed relaxed. 
 
 Four alleged accomplices, all of them committed neo-Nazis, are also in the dock in the mammoth trial in which over 600 witnesses will be called to testify. A total of 84 court days have been slated but that may not be enough. Some observers are saying the trial could last more than two years. 
 
 One of the defendants, who can be named only as Andre E. due to German privacy laws, has the words, "Die Jew Die" tattooed on his stomach. 
 
 "With its historical, social and political dimensions, the NSU trial is one of the most significant of postwar German history," lawyers for the family of the first victim, flower seller Enver Simsek, said in a statement. 
 
 Some 500 police officers were deployed outside the courthouse -- where several hundred demonstrators, some waving the Turkish flag, demanded that justice finally be done, 13 years after the first victim, Simsek, was murdered in cold blood. Some held up photos of the victims. One banner read "Why were the authorities blind?" 
 
 The chairman of the Turkish Community in Germany, Kenan Kolat, said the defendants should get life in prison. "This is a historic trial. It's not enough to convict the accused," Kolat told Mitteldeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Monday. "We hope that the maximum sentences will be imposed. And the maximum sentence is life." 
 
 The trial start was delayed by almost three weeks because of controversy over the allocation of seats for the media. In the first round, no Turkish news organization obtained a press pass, which caused an uproar that threatened to further tarnish Germany's reputation. 
 
 Every aspect of the case is proving to be sensitive, including the names of Zschäpe's defense lawyers. Both the German and British press have remarked on the fact that the the alleged NSU member is being defended by Wolfgang Stahl, Wolfgang Heer and Anja Sturm, surnames that evoke German Nazi history -- although none of the lawyers are of a far-right political persuasion. 
 
 However, the lawyer representing the defendant Ralf Wohlleben, Nicole Schneiders, used to have a regional leadership post in the far-right National Democratic Party. Wohlleben, 38, stands accused of having provided the NSU with the murder weapon -- a Ceska Browning pistol used in all the killings. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ms Zschaepe's trial is part of a wider issue that has gripped Germany 
 
 An alleged member of a German neo-Nazi cell has gone on trial in Munich in connection with a series of racially motivated murders. 
 
 Beate Zschaepe, 38, is accused of being part of the National Socialist Underground (NSU), which killed 10 people, most of them of Turkish origin. 
 
 She denies the murder charges. Critics say the police made serious errors. 
 
 The judge later adjourned the trial for a week after the defence team accused the judge of bias. 
 
 After entering court, Ms Zschaepe stood with folded arms and turned her back on the camera. 
 
 Her lawyers lodged a legal complaint with the judge, accusing him of bias. They complained about being searched for possible weapons or other objects on arrival, while prosecutors and police were not. The judge ordered an adjournment until 14 May to consider the complaint. 
 
 The NSU case sparked controversy as police wrongly blamed the Turkish mafia before discovering the far-right cell. 
 
 The head of Germany's domestic intelligence service was eventually forced to resign over the scandal. It also emerged that intelligence files on far-right extremists were destroyed after the cell's activities came to light. 
 
 Four male defendants are also on trial with Ms Zschaepe, facing lesser charges of having helped the NSU. 
 
 She faces life in prison if convicted. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption This police video shows alleged neo-Nazi Beate Zschaepe in an identity parade. 
 
 Critics have accused authorities of turning a blind eye to the crimes of right-wing extremists, the BBC's Steve Evans reports from Munich. 
 
 Officials deny this, saying mistakes occurred because the murders were spread across different regions, each with different police and security agencies. 
 
 The killings took place over a seven-year period, and none of the victims or locations was high-profile. 
 
 Execution-style killings 
 
 Ethnic Turkish community groups and anti-racism campaigners demonstrated outside the courthouse on Monday, demanding justice. Some suspect the police of institutional racism which may have helped the neo-Nazis to act with impunity, our correspondent says. 
 
 Before the trial got under way a large crowd of journalists had gathered outside, along with dozens of people hoping to get seats in the court. About 500 police officers were deployed and nearby streets were cordoned off. 
 
 Ms Zschaepe, as a founding member of the NSU, is charged with complicity in the murders of eight ethnic Turks, a Greek immigrant and a German policewoman between 2000 and 2007. 
 
 She is also accused of involvement in 15 armed robberies, of arson, and of attempted murder via two bomb attacks. 
 
 Prosecutors say the aim of the execution-style killings was to spread fear among immigrants and prompt them to leave Germany. 
 
 Her lawyers say she is refusing to speak in court. Only the trial opening was broadcast, in line with German legal restrictions. 
 
 The four male defendants are: 
 
 Ralf Wohlleben, 38, and Carsten Schultze, 33, accused of being accessories to murder in the killing of the nine men - they allegedly supplied weapons and silencers 
 
 Andre Eminger, 33, accused of being an accessory in two of the bank robberies, in the 2004 nail bombing in Cologne's old town that injured 22 people, and two counts of supporting a terrorist organisation 
 
 Holger Gerlach, 39, faces three counts of supporting a terrorist organisation. 
 
 The NSU cell remained undetected until Ms Zschaepe gave herself up in November 2011, after police discovered the bodies of two of her alleged accomplices. 
 
 Uwe Mundlos, 38, and Uwe Boenhardt, 34, appeared to have shot themselves after a botched bank robbery. 
 
 After their deaths, the gun used in the murders of the 10 people was discovered. 
 
 Ms Zschaepe shared a flat in Zwickau, in the old East Germany, with the two men who were found shot dead. 
 
 The arson charge against her relates to a fire which she is alleged to have started in the flat before giving herself up. She told police she was the one they were looking for. 
 
 In addition, a video emerged showing pictures of the corpses of the victims and identifying the "organisation" behind the murders as the NSU. The video had a cartoon Pink Panther totting up the number of dead. 
 
 Image caption Uwe Mundlos, Beate Zschaepe and Uwe Boehnhardt were believed to be the cell's only members 
 
 Only then did the authorities conclude that the killings were the work of neo-Nazis. 
 
 They had previously treated some of the families of the victims as suspects in their murders. 
 
 As a result, the trial has taken on a meaning beyond the charges in court, as it is also puts the spotlight on attitudes towards the murder of members of ethnic minority groups, our correspondent says. 
 
 An earlier start date had been set for the trial, but it was delayed for weeks amid a dispute about the seat allocations, as Turkish media were not guaranteed places. 
 
 Turkish media have now been given four seats, but several leading German newspapers missed out in the lottery, AFP news agency reports.
– Beate Zschaepe, the last surviving member of a Neo-Nazi trio accused of 10 murders between 2000 and 2007, goes on trial today in Munich, in a case that is riveting Germany. Zschaepe is charged in the killings of eight Turkish immigrants, a Greek immigrant, and a German police officer, but for years police believed the execution-style murders were connected to Turkish organized crime, the BBC reports. In reality, prosecutors say, Zschaepe and the other members of the National Socialist Underground were trying to instill fear in immigrants in an attempt to drive them out of Germany. The plot finally came to light in November 2011, when the other two alleged members of the NSU, Uwe Mundlos, 38, and Uwe Boenhardt, 34, apparently killed themselves after a bank robbery gone wrong; police then discovered the gun used in the 10 murders and Zschaepe surrendered. The 38-year-old now faces life in prison; she is also accused of involvement in armed robberies, arson, and two bomb attacks. Four men are also standing trial, accused of helping the NSU. Today's opening drew anti-racism protesters outside the courthouse; German authorities have been accused of institutional racism and of being "blind" to right-wing extremism, der Spiegel reports, and the case has sparked debate about Germany's attitude toward immigrants. The trial could go on for more than a year, the New York Times adds. Neo-Nazis including Zschaepe were just last month found to be communicating from prison via secret code.