On Wednesday, December 7, 2022, German authorities detained 25 suspects in a far-right extremist plot to violently overturn the government.
In one of the largest counterterrorism operations in German history, over 3,000 police officer, including special forces conducted 130 early-morning searches throughout 11 of the country’s 16 federal states.
A nobleman with a long-standing royal title and several veterans of the military forces are among those in the unnamed group who are suspected. The plot is focused on the so-called “Reichsbürger” movement, or “Reich Citizens” movement which is driven by rumors about the function and legitimacy of the contemporary German state.
On Wednesday and Thursday, December 7 and 8, those who were detained will appear in court. 27 more persons have had their residences searched because police suspect them of supporting or belonging to the group.
In a Twitter post on Wednesday, German Justice Minister, Marco Buschmann wrote; “The Federal Public Prosecutor is investigating a suspected terrorist network from the Reich citizen milieu. There is a suspicion that an armed attack on constitutional bodies was planned.”
The suspects, according to reports from the German Prosecutor’s office, are members of a terrorist organization that was formed at the latest in November 2021 with the intention of “forcible elimination” of the democratic constitutional state in order to replace the Berlin government and establish its own rulers.
In a statement from the prosecutor’s office, “The members of the association are aware that this project can only be realized through the use of military means and violence against state representatives.”
The group was driven by a rejection of the “free democratic basic order of the Federal Republic of Germany,” the statement continued.
According to the Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the organization is greatly inspired by right-wing conspiracy theories, particularly the idea that a secretive , malign “deep state” controls the country, as demonstrated by the QAnon movement. They hold conspiracy theories that are antisemitic and contend that the Federal Republic of Germany is not a sovereign state.
According to the authorities, “Heinrich XIII P.R,” referred to in German media as Prince Heinrich XIII of the House of Reuss, which ruled some regions of Germany until 1918, was among those detained.
Two more detained suspects include one member who was in Kitzbühel, Austria, and the other in Perugia, Italy. A Russian citizen named Vitalia B. is accused of with assisting the group’s efforts to get in touch with Russian officials.
However, German prosecutors point out that there is no proof that the request was complied with by Russian officials. Russia has not yet commented on the news.
-German Police
Author- Roberta Appiah
