Five members of a German far -right group have been imprisoned to snatch the Government and abduct their Health Minister.
Four of the group were described as « leaders » of a « terrorist organization » who planned to use violence to trigger civil war conditions in Germany.
The group was planning to abduct the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, a defender of the strict COVID measures -19 during the pandemic, and to kill their bodyguards if necessary.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that the defendants had raised « a huge threat » for national security.
The Koblenz Superior Regional Court listened to the group met in January 2022 and devised a plan that included a sabotage attack to turn off the power grid.
The group, consisting of four men between the ages of 46 and 58, and a 77 -year -old woman, hoped that they would be incorporated dissatisfied with security forces.
Four defendants described as leaders were sentenced to between five and nine months and eight years in prison for a court in the west of Germany.
A fifth defendant received a sentence of two years and ten months after the trial almost two years.
The identities of the five convicted people have not been publicly disseminated.
The group associated with Citizens of the Reich whose followers believe that the German Empire, which collapsed in 1918, continues to exist. Researchers say it was led by the Prince of Heinrich XIII, a German aristocrat.
It is also said that they have been inspired by the movement of Qanon’s conspiracy theory, which is associated with some Donald Trump supporters In the USA.
After the verdict, Lauterbach, of the Democratic Center Social Party -Esquerra (SDP), thanked the police and said that the state had shown that « it can be defended against violent conspiracy theorists. »
Faeser said: « Violent plans for a coup, for attacks on electricity infrastructure, for the abduction of the Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, and the slaughter of his bodyguards have shown a huge threat. »
He added that the security services « take the threats that the citizens of the Reich scene are seriously raising and » we are protecting our democracy « .
The ruling follows several essays aimed at far -right groups related to Reich citizens who reject the legitimacy of the modern German state.
Leave a Reply