Ex-AfD MP outraged by charges
The Federal Prosecutor's Office continues the trial against the Reichsbürger group around Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuß. For the first time, the former AfD parliamentarian Malsack-Winkemann speaks out and expresses her indignation over the perceived RAF comparisons.
During the continuation of the Frankfurt Terror Trial against the alleged "Reichsbürger" Group around Heinrich XIII. Prince Reuß, the former Bundestag parliamentarian Birgit Malsack-Winkemann spoke about her personal relationships. The 59-year-old defendant described her career as a judge at the Berlin Regional Court, her AfD tenure, and her duties in the Bundestag.
In her judicial offices, she acted according to the principle of impartiality. In 2013, she joined the AfD, according to her own statements. "Politics does not belong in the judiciary," Malsack-Winkemann declared. Her colleagues had not known about her political activities.
From her entry into the German Bundestag in 2017 until 2021, she worked for the AfD and sat in the Bundestag, where she worked in the Budget Committee. After that, she returned to the judiciary but was temporarily suspended. The content of her Bundestag speeches should be checked, she stated before the Higher Regional Court.
Malsack-Winkemann indignant over RAF comparison
Malsack-Winkemann expressed her indignation over the charges. "Now we're being accused here by the prosecution of being the successors of the RAF - on the other side of the political spectrum, but still," she said. As a witness to the Red Army Faction (RAF), this shocked her. What they were being accused of was not comparable to the actions of the RAF.
So far, the interrogations have not focused on the charges. The accused are supposed to first speak about their personal relationships, their biographies, and their financial and family situations.
The 59-year-old is accused of having joined the "Patriotic Union" around Prinz Reuß in 2021 and of having helped other defendants gain access to the German Bundestag. According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, these individuals were supposed to survey the building for a violent coup. Malsack-Winkemann is also accused of supplying the association with information from the parliamentary sphere until September 2022, even after her departure from the Bundestag.
Charges: Knowingly endangering lives
In the so-called Council of the Group, she was responsible for the Justice portfolio. Additionally, she actively sought to recruit more people for the association and is said to have dealt with conceptual preparations for the establishment of new state judicial structures on behalf of Reuß.
In Frankfurt, nine suspects are charged with being members of a terrorist organization or supporting it. It is alleged that a armed coup was planned. The accused are said to have knowingly endangered lives, according to the indictment. Until the verdict, the accused enjoy the presumption of innocence. Two further proceedings against 24 other alleged accomplices in Munich and Stuttgart are ongoing in this complex.
Despite her previous role in politics as an AfD parliamentarian, Malsack-Winkemann firmly believed in keeping politics out of the judiciary. Her shock set in when she was compared to the RAF during the trial, as she saw right-wing extremism and the actions of the Reichsbürger group as fundamentally different. Furthermore, the accusations against her and other defendants for knowingly endangering lives through their involvement with the "Patriotic Union" and plans for a violent coup were processes that she continued to face in court.
