"Empire citizen" sentenced to prison
The "Kaiserreich Group" plans attacks on Germany's infrastructure and aims to kidnap Health Minister Lauterbach. However, the plot is foiled, and a member of the group is sentenced to prison. He may never serve his time.
A member of the far-right "Kaiserreich Group" has been sentenced to two years and ten months in prison by the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf. The 50-year-old former technician from Heiligenhaus was found guilty of membership in a domestic terrorist organization and preparation of high treason.
However, the arrest warrant has been suspended under reporting conditions, so the convicted person is initially released. Whether he can serve the remainder of his sentence in open detention, as requested by his lawyers, will be decided at a later date. Since neither the defense nor the prosecution appealed, the verdict is final.
The representative of the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office had requested a higher sentence of three years and nine months. The man admitted in court that he had joined the right-wing terrorist "Kaiserreich Group" and supported their coup plans.
Attacks on power lines and kidnapping
According to the indictment, the "Kaiserreich Group" planned to disrupt Germany's power supply for weeks using explosives. Additionally, they intended to kidnap Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach. The coup was initially scheduled to begin in May 2022.
The lawyers for the convicted man portrayed their client as a "paper tiger" who was not a "Reich citizen" but a misguided COVID-19 opponent who only wanted to make himself important among the plotters.
In Hamburg, one of the group's supporters was already sentenced to a 24-month suspended sentence in early July. The trial against five alleged ringleaders has been ongoing at the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz for over a year.
The individuals accused of being citizens of the Reich within the "Kaiserreich Group" were charged with planning attacks on Germany's power supply and kidnapping Health Minister Lauterbach. Despite these serious allegations, the convicted member's lawyers argued that he was merely a misguided opponent of COVID-19, seeking importance within the group.
