Germany: Prosecution of five far-right extremists who planned to kidnap the Minister of Health

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This group, consisting of four men and one woman, was formed in mid-January 2022 and had set as its goal “to trigger civil war conditions in Germany through the use of violence.”

The federal prosecutor’s office Germany prosecuted for high treason against five right-wing extremists who allegedly planned to kidnap the health minister and were prepared to kill people in order to overthrow the German government.

The group, made up of four men and one woman, was formed in mid-January 2022 and had set itself the goal of “igniting conditions of civil war in Germany through the use of violence” hoping to overthrow the government and parliamentary democracy. He had accepted that this could mean the loss of human life, the prosecutor’s statement added.

All five have been held since last year, when details of their plan were revealed.

According to prosecutors, the five far-right extremists would act in three phases: first, they would cause a general blackout by sabotaging energy facilities, then kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach – if necessary, killing his bodyguard – and finally call a national assembly to oust the government and appoint a new leader.

Their “ideology” is said to have been primarily influenced by the group’s female, Elizabeth R. (p.s. German law does not allow the identity of the accused to be made public) which was determined to abolish the current Constitution and revive the German Empire based on the 1871 Constitution and a “system of autocratic rule”. The group consisted of two sections, a “military branch” in which three of the men participated, and an “administrative” one, made up of Elizabeth R. and the fourth man.

Among other things, they were considering using an actor to play the role of the federal president or chancellor and announce on television the dissolution of the democratic regime. They tried to recruit partners through the encrypted messaging app Telegram and organized at least four meetings in different German states. They also attempted to buy weapons and explosives from countries of the former Yugoslavia. The investigative authorities seized two assault rifles and four Glock pistols.

Germany considers far-right terrorism to be one of the top threats it faces. The ideology of the “Reichsbürger”, the “Citizens of the Reich”, who are opposed to democratic values, has seen a certain rise after the restrictions imposed to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. In December, another group that planned to overthrow democratic institutions in the country was dismantled.

RES-EMP

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