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Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Alleged German coup plotters arraigned

Members of the group are said to be opposed to the legitimacy of the modern German state.

• May 21, 2024
Germany
Germany [Credit: Wikipedia]

Ring leaders of the German coup plotters identified as the Reichsbürger movement, have been arraigned after they allegedly planned to violently overthrow the government.

The BBC reports that the alleged coup leaders are to appear for hearing on Tuesday, in Frankfurt, but the trials, already split into three, due to the size of the case, will be held in Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Munich.

The group is said to be opposed to the legitimacy of the modern German state, and claimed it was installed by the victorious Allied powers after World War Two.

According to domestic intelligence, the group has around 23,000 followers who exhibit “antisemitic attitudes” and a “high affinity” for weapons.

Investigators alleged that those linked to the group strategised plans for an armed group to invade the national parliament in Berlin and arrest MPs on what was called “Day X.”

A former real estate developer from Frankfurt who is from an aristocratic family, the House of Reuss, Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, was also alleged to have held meetings with the group’s ‘central council’ at his home, and set to be the ‘head of state, if the coup had succeeded.

The indictment against the 72-year-old aristocrat showed that, if he had emerged head of state, he would have negotiated a peace treaty with the Allies, and appeared at the Russian consulate in Leipzig, in an attempt to reach out to Moscow.

A former judge and MP for the far-right Alternative for Deutschland party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, is also on trial after prosecutors alleged that she used her access rights to parliamentary property to “smuggle” in co-conspirators to scout the area, and was also said to be responsible for the justice department on the group’s central council.

Investigation also revealed that the council was to act as the central body while a ‘military arm’ which consists of 286 units, would have enforced the new order nationwide.

The prosecutors claimed that the group had access to firearms, ammunition, night vision devices and handcuffs, while the indictment indicated that they had financial resources of around 500,000 euros.

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