Officers secure evidence in "Knockout 51" investigation
Investigators have seized data carriers and dangerous objects during searches of suspected right-wing extremists in Thuringia and Hesse. The cell phones and other data carriers found are to be evaluated, as Thomas Riebel, spokesman for the public prosecutor's office in Gera, said on Thursday. The dangerous objects included knives and a so-called softair pistol. Stickers from the right-wing extremist network "Blood and Honour", which is banned in Germany, were also seized.
On Wednesday morning, around 200 officers searched 15 homes and other places of residence of the suspects in Thuringia, mainly in and around Eisenach, as part of investigations into the neo-Nazi martial arts group "Knockout 51". The officers also searched a property in Bad Wildungen in Hesse. During the searches in Eisenach, a 21-year-old man was arrested for whom an arrest warrant had been issued.
The investigation is directed against twelve suspects aged between 16 and 59, as the Thuringia State Office of Criminal Investigation and the Gera public prosecutor's office had already announced on Wednesday. The four women and eight men are accused, among other things, of membership and support of the right-wing extremist organization "Knockout 51".
Four alleged members of "Knockout 51" are currently on trial before the Higher Regional Court in Jena. The Federal Public Prosecutor General accuses the defendants of preparing the most serious crimes.
The seizure of right-wing extremist material, such as stickers from the banned network "Blood and Honour", highlights the ongoing issue of extremist ideologies in the investigation. Additionally, the arrest of a suspect for membership or support of the neo-Nazi martial arts group "Knockout 51" underscores the connection between crime and extremism in this case.
Source: www.dpa.com
