Thuringia - "Knockout 51": Police arrest three suspected right-wing extremists
Following searches in the course of investigations into the right-wing extremist martial arts group"Knockout 51", arrest warrants have been issued and executed against three men. Two of the suspects are accused of membership of a right-wing extremist criminal and terrorist organization, another is said to be a supporter, as the Federal Public Prosecutor General announced in Karlsruhe on Friday.
The three were arrested on Thursday. Four properties were searched in Thuringia - in Erfurt and Eisenach, according to the news agency DPA.
"Knockout 51" is said to have "trained" right-wing extremists for violence
"Knockout 51" was mainly active in the Eisenach area, and the group was made up of particularly violent right-wing extremists. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor General, it was a right-wing extremist martial arts group"which attracted young, nationalist-minded men under the guise of joint physical training, deliberately indoctrinated them with right-wing extremist ideas and trained them for physical confrontations with police officers, members of the left-wing political scene and other people considered worth fighting".
A trial against four alleged members of "Knockout 51" is already underway at the Jena Higher Regional Court. The men had planned, among other things, to kill their political opponents by using knives, axes and machetes, it was said during the reading of the indictment. The court had only admitted the charges against the men on the condition that "Knockout 51" was only classified as a criminal organization and not as a terrorist organization, at least temporarily.
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- The suspected right-wing extremists, arrested in connection with "Knockout 51", are currently being investigated by the public prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe.
- In addition to the three men, the extreme right martial arts group "Knockout 51" has several other members under investigation, some of whom are already on trial in Jena.
- The activities of "Knockout 51" in Thuringia, particularly in Eisenach, have been a concern for the police and authorities due to their training of men for violent confrontations with political opponents.
- The trial against the four accused members of "Knockout 51" at the Jena Higher Regional Court revealed plans for violent attacks using weapons such as knives, axes, and machetes against their political opponents.
- Subsequent searches in the Thuringia cities of Erfurt and Eisenach led to further evidence of the group's extreme right-wing activities and involvement in violent acts.
- The authorities in Thuringia and Karlsruhe continue to monitor the activities of right-wing extremist groups like "Knockout 51" and work to issue warrants for arrest and conduct searches to dismantle such organizations.
Source: www.stern.de
