German police have arrested eight alleged members of a far-right group driven by racist ideology and conspiracy theories who had been training to take up arms and bring about the fall of the German state, prosecutors said Tuesday.
News of the arrests came as a 450-strong police operation was underway to dismantle the group, baptized by prosecutors as Sächsische Separatisten (“Saxon Separatists”), which has the initials SS, the same as the elite militia. of the Nazi party.
“Our security authorities have thus frustrated coup plots by right-wing terrorists at an early stage, who longed for the arrival of ‘Day X’ to attack the people and our State with armed force,” said the Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, in a statement.
Spiegel Online reported that one of the suspects was a politician from the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in eastern Germany.
This would be the second coup plot discovered in Germany in recent years.
In 2022, the movement called “Reichsbürger” (“Citizens of the Empire”) was uncovered, led by an aspiring prince with ambitions to overthrow the State and establish a provisional Government, a case that shocked Germany due to the level of detail of his network. and planning.
The group targeted by Tuesday’s operation was formed in November 2020 at the latest, the federal prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
“This is an armed group of between 15 and 20 individuals whose ideology is characterized by racist, anti-Semitic and partially apocalyptic ideas,” the statement added.
Convinced that Germany is approaching collapse, in which government and society would collapse, prophesied for an undetermined “Day the east of the country inspired by National Socialism, according to researchers.
“If necessary, unwanted groups of people are supposed to be expelled from the area through ethnic cleansing,” the statement said.
Prosecutors claimed they had completed paramilitary training, focusing on urban warfare, firearms handling, night marches and patrols.
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Germany arrests far-right extremists who were allegedly planning to take up arms
The group had also acquired military equipment, such as camouflage suits, combat helmets, gas masks and bulletproof vests.
Poland’s Internal Security Agency said it had arrested the alleged ringleader and founding member, Jörg S., 23, in the Polish border town of Zgorzelec, after months of collaboration between Polish and German authorities.
German prosecutors identified some of the other detainees as Jörn S., Karl K. and Norman T., in accordance with German judicial practice of not publishing surnames.
Two of the suspects belong to a family of known far-right militants in Austria, according to Spiegel Online.
Seven of the suspects were captured in the eastern German cities of Leipzig, Dresden and Meissen and their surrounding areas.
Spiegel reported that one of the suspects, whom he identified as Kurt H., was an AfD politician in the eastern state of Saxony, where the party came close to winning a state election in September.
He is an elected member of the town council of Grimma, near Leipzig, according to the town’s website. Spiegel also said that he has been treasurer of the AfD youth organization in Saxony “Junge Alternative” (“Young Alternative”) since October.
The AfD national office and the local Leipzig branch did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Spiegel said Kurt H.’s defense attorney was not available for comment.
All eight face charges of participation in a domestic terrorist organization.
Some will be prosecuted as minors because they are teenagers. The suspects were expected to appear in court later in the day.
With information from Reuters.
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