A spectacular and highly publicized crackdown on the German far-right movement has brought to light the existence of a plot to organize a coup in the country.
The serious charge was brought on December 7 by the country's federal prosecutor's office.
On Wednesday morning, twenty-five members and suspected supporters of a terrorist group were arrested in seven of the sixteen Länder, as well as in Austria and Italy.
An operation to which are added 150 searches carried out in eleven regions and involving 52 defendants: it is the most important judicial offensive carried out against the far right in decades, carried out with the help of 3,000 police officers.
The incriminated group "
had set itself the objective of eliminating the existing state order in Germany, the liberal and democratic fundamental order, by resorting to violence and military means
", confirmed in the afternoon the attorney general, Peter Frank.
Eight of the leaders were taken into custody, including its two main figures: Prince Henry XIII of Reuss, from a line of Thuringian rulers, and Rüdiger von P., a former lieutenant-colonel of the Bundeswehr.
Familiar conspiracy theories
The first, owner of a castle in Bad Lobenstein, in the center of the country, was the political showcase of the movement and tipped to become the new German head of state.
The second, whose identity has not yet been revealed, was the representative of his military branch, responsible for recruiting men for the putsch.
The two men, as well as their entourage, were familiar with conspiracy theories, themselves fed by the far-right American movement QAnon, said the general prosecutor's office: according to them, Germany would be led by members of a clique. belonging to an evil
deep state
.
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Thus, these “
Reich Burgers
” (citizens of the Reich who refuse to pay tax and obey the police) had been working since November 2021 to overthrow this state which they consider illegitimate.
Their first mission was to take the Bundestag by force, like the American rioters in the Capitol, on January 6, 2021. The putschists thought they were being helped in their task by a secret society called "
the Alliance
", formed by the victorious states of the Second World War, in particular Russia, details the General Prosecutor's Office.
The companion of Prince Henry XIII, a certain Vitalia B., of Russian citizenship, would have been responsible for approaching the Kremlin relays.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin has denied any
connection with any terrorist or illegal organization in Germany".
Germany was not in serious danger of being overthrown
A German conservative daily
In order to exercise power, the defendants grouped together in a "
council
" had already constituted a mini-government, in particular constituted by the cabinets of justice, health and external affairs, adds the prosecution.
To qualify the operation, the
Frankfuter Allgemeine Zeitung
hesitated on Wednesday between "
farce
" and "
dread".
“Germany was not seriously threatened with being overthrown
,” reassured the conservative daily.
The case nevertheless made the ruling coalition, led by the SPD, the Greens and the FDP (liberals) shudder.
Home Secretary Nancy Faeser compared the far-right "
terrorist threat
" to an
"abyss".
A very good score in the elections
Its relays in the anti-vaccine movement, as well as in the army and the police, have been known for a long time.
On Wednesday, a search notably targeted a barracks housing the special commandos (KSK), an elite formation of the Bundeswehr.
Reputed anthill of neo-Nazis, the latter had already been reformed two years ago.
But among the many offshoots – American, Russian, military – attached to this
“council”,
one has particularly caught the attention of the government, that which leads to the far-right AfD party.
Suspected of extremist excesses, this party achieved, against all expectations, a very good score in recent elections in western Germany.
The septuagenarian prince Henri XIII comes from Thuringia (ex-GDR), the region sheltering the most radical fringe of the AfD and its leader Bjorn Hocke.
Among those arrested on Wednesday is a former federal deputy of the party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, violently anti-migrant.
In 2018, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann was tipped to become Minister of Justice of the coup government
The recent return to civilian life of the latter - as a judge in Berlin - had created a controversy within the judiciary and among some environmental leaders.
The latter suspect the far right of wanting to colonize the judiciary.
In 2018, the AfD and the anti-migrant movement Pegida encouraged their members to stand for popular jury elections, and Birgit Malsack-Winkemann was tipped to become justice minister of the coup government.
“
The fact that a former MP is apparently involved in this investigation worries me a lot
,” commented the leader of the SPD faction in the Bundestag, Rolf Mützenich, accusing the AfD of having already collaborated in an attack on the institution. .
“
This case shows what a mess the AfD is in
,” added his FDP counterpart, Christian Dürr.
From now on, the threat weighs of the surveillance of the party by the German intelligence services.
The AfD presidency reacted soberly to the accusations.
“
We condemn the attempts
(foiled on Wednesday, editor’s note)
and we strongly oppose them.
It is now a matter of awaiting the results of the investigation
,” she said in a statement.
For her part, the former MP
putschist
” did not comment.
She was expelled from the Berlin court.
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