Federal prosecutor files charges against 27 suspected Reich citizens
A year ago, German authorities uncovered a suspected "Reichsbürger" network that was allegedly planning a major coup. Now the federal prosecutor's office is pressing charges. 27 suspects are involved.
Following the large-scale anti-terror raid against so-called "Reich citizens" around a year ago, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office has brought charges for the first time. A total of 27 suspects are involved, as the authorities announced in Karlsruhe on Tuesday. Among other things, they are accused of membership and support of a terrorist organization. The proceedings are to be conducted before the higher regional courts in Frankfurt am Main, Munich and Stuttgart. These must decide whether to admit the charges and schedule a trial.
On December 7 last year, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office had 25 men and women arrested in several federal states, Austria and Italy. Among them were former AfD member of the Bundestag Birgit Malsack-Winkemann and a soldier from the Special Forces Command (KSK) of the German Armed Forces. The businessman Heinrich XIII Prince Reuß is considered one of the ringleaders.
The circle of suspects is much larger and is constantly growing as the investigation progresses. Many of them are in custody. The suspects are said to have planned to overthrow the political system in Germany. They would have deliberately accepted deaths. They had already worked out the outlines of structures for their own state order, the investigators had explained at the time. Henry XIII Prince Reuss was to have acted as head of state.
Armed attack on the Bundestag planned?
Departments had also already been allocated: For example, the former judge Malsack-Winkemann was to have been responsible for justice. The central body of the group was a "council". A transitional government was to negotiate the new state order in Germany with the victorious Allied powers of the Second World War. "From the association's point of view, the central point of contact for these negotiations is currently exclusively the Russian Federation." A "military arm" was also to "eliminate" the democratic constitutional state at the level of municipalities, districts and local authorities, it said. Soldiers and police officers were specifically targeted for the coup, the federal prosecutor's office announced. According to the investigation, another plan was to force their way into the German Bundestag with a small armed group.
"Reich citizens" are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany and its democratic structures. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution attributed around 23,000 followers to the scene last year (2021: 21,000). More than five percent - around 1,250 people - are right-wing extremists. According to the report, around 2300 of the "Reichsbürger" and "Selbstverwalter" are considered to be violence-oriented
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In response to the anti-terror raid conducted against "Reich citizens" last December, the federal prosecutor's office has now indicted 27 of these individuals. The indictment includes charges of membership and support of a terrorist organization.
As part of the ongoing investigation into the "Reich citizen" network, the federal prosecutor's office has revealed that one of their objectives was to conduct an armed attack on the German Bundestag.
Source: www.ntv.de
