A prince, a military commander, a far-right magistrate with a passion for firearms… On Wednesday, in what it described as the biggest operation in its history, German police carried out 25 arrests, as part of a major repression of a coup project. carried out by a far-right movement.
“These activists are united by their hatred of democracy, our state and the people who support our community,” German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters. In total, the investigation is directed at 52 people, who would have participated in training sessions or even in arms purchases.
• 3,000 police officers mobilized
This Wednesday morning, more than 3,000 German police officers mobilized to make various arrests and numerous searches. In the crosshairs: a coup project carried out by an extreme right group.
25 people were arrested, but the investigations refer to a total of 52 individuals. The scale of the operation attests to the danger posed by the arrested individuals. Arrests took place in 11 of the country’s 16 Länder.
At the same time, 130 homes, offices and warehouses were searched, including a headquarters of the special forces of the Bundeswehr – the German army – located in Calw, in the southwest of the country. Justice has indicated that it has frustrated all the attack plans. Arrests also occurred in Austria and Italy.
• An armed invasion of the Bundestag
The German justice indicated that those arrested had in particular a plan to organize an armed assault against the Bundestag, but also to kidnap various political leaders. To do so, they would have sought support from the police and the army. This summer, trips to northern Germany were even made to recruit police officers and four meetings were organized.
Members of the small group had even indicated that people could die during their operations, a step that was deemed necessary.
In a statement, federal prosecutor Peter Frank said investigators had uncovered “concrete preparations” for “violently entering the German Bundestag with a small army.” Military barracks, suitable for housing troops after the possible coup, had already been identified.
In this same perspective, key posts had already been assigned. He is a member of the German aristocracy who should have assumed the head of state.
“Some people were already planned to join the new government. The Ministry of Justice was going to be handed over to a former deputy. The military group had also created a military branch that was to form a new German army, ”he explained at the front. from Peter Frank’s chambers.
• The “Reichsburger”
According to the German newspaper Der SpiegelQuoted by The worldthe people in the sights of justice is linked to the movement called Reichsbürger (citizens of the Reich, editor’s note), emerged in the 1980s that does not recognize the legitimacy of the German state. From this perspective, they refuse to pay taxes or obey the police.
The nearly 15,000 members of this movement have never hidden their desire to establish a new political, legal and military order in the country.
A small fringe of these Reichsbürger would have been radicalized by the end of 2021 at the latest, and would have decided to push their preparations. The Justice assured that they were highly organized, with a central body, a military arm and several commissions.
• A sulphurous flow
Some of the profiles of those arrested were revealed in the press. The one who should have taken the head of Germany, a member of the Thuringian aristocracy, was arrested in Frankfurt. This is a 71-year-old “Henri XIII”, also known as Prince Reuss, a well-known figure in anti-Semitic circles, whose family origins give him some influence.
The latter would have even sought to secure Russia’s support through his 39-year-old partner, a Russian citizen. It is not yet known whether any contacts have been made, but the Russian embassy in Berlin has denied any links to terrorist or illegal organizations in Germany.
The German press also mentions a former Bundeswehr paratrooper commander, 69-year-old Rüdiger von P.. He had to leave the army at the end of the 1990s, accused of having infringed the arms law.
Finally, the person who should have taken the portfolio of the Ministry of Justice in the event of a coup was identified as Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, 58, a former deputy for the far-right Afd party between 2017 and 2021. A magistrate by training, she is known for her fondness for firearms. Her address was carefully searched.
Afd leader Frauke Petry said her party condemned “coup attempts and we strongly oppose them.”
• Influence of the QAnon and anti-vaccine movements
Before this repression, the Reichsbürger were known in Germany for having intimidated certain doctors who practiced vaccination against Covid-19.
Prosecutors also said members believe a “deep state” actually rules Germany, in line with the QAnon movement, which emerged in the United States and which many Americans have claimed attempted to storm the Capitol in January 2021.
The German prosecutor’s office indicated that the detainees are united by “a deep rejection of State institutions and the liberal and democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany, which over time has made them grow in their decision to participate in their elimination by the violence”. .
Adding that they are “firmly convinced that Germany is run by members of a so-called ‘deep state'”, but soon expect “imminent intervention by the Alliance, a technically superior secret society of governments, intelligence services and military of different countries” .
Source: BFM TV
