Attila Hildmann: Found after months of searching in Turkey
Created: 10/26/2022 3:31 p.m
By: Nail Akkoyun
The right-wing extremist Attila Hildmann, who went into hiding in Turkey, is wanted on an arrest warrant - and has now apparently been found.
Berlin/Kartepe – The right-wing conspiracy narrator Attila Hildmann, who was wanted with an arrest warrant, has been tracked down in Turkey after a media report.
According to the report, after months of research, a group of amateur researchers and reporters from
Stern
magazine found Hildmann in the city of Kartepe, around 100 kilometers east of Istanbul, and spoke to him.
The leader of the amateur investigators immediately informed the German consulate general in Istanbul after the encounter and gave the federal police Hildmann's address and the number plate of his car, reports
Stern
.
Attila Hildmann: Manhunt in Turkey
The Berlin public prosecutor's office did not want to comment on the case on Wednesday.
Recently it became known that Hildmann only has German citizenship.
The Berlin public prosecutor's office had long assumed that he also had Turkish citizenship and therefore could not be extradited.
Hildmann's actual status has been known since April, and the search for the international arrest warrant has been expanded, according to the public prosecutor's office.
Right-wing extremist Attila Hildmann during a Corona rally in Berlin in May 2020. © Stefan Zeitz/Imago
Attila Hildmann: Right-wing extremist apparently lives in western Turkey
It is not known whether the federal government has since submitted an extradition request to Turkey.
According to media reports, the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Office of Justice, the Foreign Office and the Turkish authorities are said to be involved.
Hildmann was born in West Berlin to Turkish parents but grew up with German adoptive parents.
According to the report, Hildmann, who became known as a vegan cookbook author and then spread far-right conspiracy theories, has lived in the Turkish community of Kartepe since the summer of this year.
He had previously lived in Gömec, a coastal town in western Turkey, since autumn 2021.
Arrest warrant against Attila Hildmann: Investigators analyzed photos and videos
Hildmann fled to Turkey in December 2020 and was wanted with an international arrest warrant from February 2021.
The group therefore researched extensively on the Internet and in chat channels and analyzed videos and photos posted by Hildmann in order to track him down.
The
star
accompanied the group, researched according to its own account at the same time and thus got into an isolated chat group of Hildmann.
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The public prosecutor's office has long been investigating Hildmann, who describes himself as "ultra-right" and a conspiracy preacher.
He is accused of incitement to hatred, there is also the thought of public incitement to commit crimes and resistance to the police.
(nak/dpa)