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German authorities have charged 27 people with crimes including terrorism, sedition and attempted murder for their involvement in last year’s plot to overthrow the government, according to reports. new their relations with Russia.
The charges include allegations of several meetings between conspirators and Russian government officials in 2022 and their intention to involve Moscow in the formation of the new German law.
“The defendant belongs to a terrorist organization established at the end of July 2021 whose goal is to forcefully remove the state order that exists in Germany and replace it with his own government,” the said the public prosecutor in a statement on Tuesday.
All of the defendants were members of the Reichsbürger movement – an organization of conspirators, racists and extremists who reject the integrity of the modern democratic state and embrace ideas such as imperialism and pan-German nationalism .
Led by Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, the descendant of a royal family that ruled the eastern German region of Thuringia for 800 years, the 27 are accused of amassing financial resources and stores of weapons to create a attack against the democratically elected government in Berlin.
The putsch focused on an attack on the parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, in order to arrest the parliamentarians, seize control of the military radio station and create a general revolution in Germany, which according to three indictments by the public prosecutor filed in Frankfurt, Munich and Stuttgart.
After removing the federal government, the conspirators planned to contact the Russian government to negotiate a new order for Germany. Several meetings were held and attempted between members of the group and Russian officials at government facilities in Germany and at least one undisclosed location in Slovakia, the indictments say.
After removing the federal government, the conspirators planned to contact the Russian government to negotiate a new order for Germany. Two meetings were held and two more were planned between members of the group and Russian officials at the consulates in Leipzig and Frankfurt, the indictment said.
“The way the Russian Government responded . . . it was not explained,” said the public prosecutor.
A meeting with the Russian consulate in Leipzig and the two conspirators of the group overseeing the purchase of weapons was scheduled for December, but was never held because the conspiracy was discovered first.
A Russian woman is one of those accused. He facilitated meetings with Russian government officials, the indictment said.
The Russian government has denied any involvement.
The “concrete preparations” of the Reichsbürger include weapons training and the recruitment of humanitarians in the country, organized into organized regional cells.
The organization already has access to the Reichstag building. One of those charged was Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former politician for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party. He smuggled other conspirators into the Reichstag’s secure quarters so they could expand the building and plan attacks.
The high level of the conspiracy led to a major police operation last December.
More than 3,000 police officers raided 150 homes throughout Germany, and found a cache of 380 guns, 350 firearms and 500 “other” weapons, as well as 148,000 rounds of ammunition intended for use in the conspiracy.
Among those accused is a sharpshooter with “many” weapons and explosives permits. He shot and wounded two police officers – one permanently – with an assault rifle after he was arrested.
Others include a member of the German special forces, who gave the conspirators access to military facilities, and a lieutenant colonel, who was the former commander of the paratrooper army.
Of particular concern to investigators is the fact that the conspirators were able to successfully recruit current and former military officials and gain access to sensitive military locations. .
The German anti-terrorists estimate that about 25,000 people in Germany sympathize with the Reichsbürger ideology.