The German federal prosecutor’s office had 25 people from the so-called Reich citizen scene arrested in a raid on Wednesday morning. Around 3,000 officials are deployed in eleven German federal states, said a spokeswoman for the Karlsruhe authority. Searches were also carried out in Austria and Italy. With the exception of one Russian, all those arrested were German citizens, according to the federal prosecutor. Details in the video:
Outside of Germany, there were arrests in Kitzbühel and in Perugia, Italy. According to the Austrian Ministry of the Interior, there have been searches in two Austrian states. The “Kurier” reported in its online edition that there were also an Upper Austrian and a Tyrolean among those arrested. There are a total of “traces to three Austrians”. In addition to Kitzbühel, there should also have been a search in Lower Austria in the Amstetten district, but no arrests were made here.
It was initially unclear whether those arrested also had Austrian citizenship or were resident in Austria. With one exception, only German nationals were on the list of names of the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office. In the Italian city of Perugia (Umbria), a German citizen who had been in Italy for some time was arrested in a hotel on the basis of a European arrest warrant.
“Successful blow against the scene”
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) was pleased with the arrests: “A successful strike against the anti-constitutional, democracy-destroying and right-wing extremist scene in Germany and Austria. The police authorities have once again worked together efficiently, purposefully and successfully for the safety of the people,” it said in a statement from the Interior Ministry.
“The investigations allow us to look into the abyss of a terrorist threat from the Reich citizen milieu,” said German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Justice Minister Marco Buschmann described the Germany-wide raid as an “anti-terrorist operation”.
The German federal prosecutor’s office wanted to start questioning the first arrested on Wednesday, the spokeswoman said. A press conference has been announced for 2 p.m.
Soldier and reservists in the sights of the investigators
22 of those arrested are said to be members of a terrorist organization, two of them ringleaders. Three people were also arrested as supporters. There are also 27 other suspects, said the spokeswoman. “We don’t have a name for this association yet,” she told the dpa news agency. She is said to have planned the overthrow of the state order in Germany and the assumption of state leadership. The investigators also targeted an active soldier in the German Bundeswehr and several reservists, the military counter-intelligence service (MAD) announced on Wednesday in Cologne.
One of those arrested is Berlin judge Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former member of the Bundestag for the right-wing populist German AfD party. She sat in the Bundestag from 2017 to 2021, returning to the judiciary in March 2022 and working at the Berlin Regional Court. “We will exhaust all instruments to remove the accused completely from the judiciary,” said Berlin’s Senator for Justice Lena Kreck on Wednesday at the request of the dpa. The Berlin AfD chairwoman Kristin Brinker reacted with dismay to the arrest of Malsack-Winkemann. “We are all surprised,” said Brinker on Wednesday. However, the presumption of innocence initially also applies to Malsack-Winkemann. “Should the allegations be confirmed, a party exclusion procedure would certainly result.”
Henry XIII Prince Reuss as head of the group?
The Hessian entrepreneur Heinrich XIII is also one of the suspects. Prince Reuss. According to the federal prosecutor, the 71-year-old is suspected of having been one of the ringleaders of the alleged terrorist group. According to the investigation, the man is said to have been chairman of the group’s central body (“Council”) and in the event of the coup to have been considered the “future head of state”. He is also said to have tried to contact representatives of the Russian Federation through the Russian Vitalia B. who was also arrested.
Russia described the raid as an internal affair of Germany. “It’s more of an internal problem in Germany. You yourself have stated that there can be no talk of Russian interference here,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday, according to the Russian agency Interfax, about the alleged coup plans. Russia only found out about this from the media and could not say anything about it, said Peskov.
Negotiations planned with Russia
The central body of the group was a “council”, said the federal prosecutor. Similar to the cabinet of a regular government, this has departments such as justice, foreign affairs and health. “The members of the “Council” have met regularly in secret since November 2021 to plan the intended takeover of power in Germany and the establishment of their own state structures.” An interim government should have negotiated the new state order in Germany with the Allied victorious powers of the Second World War. “From the point of view of the association, the main contact for these negotiations is currently the Russian Federation.”
“Reich citizens” are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany and its democratic structures. They often refuse to pay taxes. Often they are in conflict with authorities. The protection of the constitution now counts more than 21,000 followers of the scene.
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Source: Nachrichten
