German police arrest 25 people accused of plotting a coup against the state

Europe, News December 8, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Police in Germany conducted simultaneous raids throughout the country on December 7, 2022, arresting at least 25 people charged with plotting a coup against the government.

All arrested individuals are members of the far-right group called Reichsbuerger or Reich Citizens movement. According to the official sources from the federal prosecutor’s office, the group had been plotting to overthrow the state by force and planning to install a leadership that sought support from Russia.

About 3000 police officers conducted large-scale raid operations against more than 130 different locations in 11 German federal states against the group. At least 25 arrests were reported as a result of the raid operations. Prosecutors said members of the Reich Citizens movement were suspected of “having made concrete preparations to violently force their way into the German parliament with a small armed group”.

The prosecutors further added that 22 arrested individuals were German citizens and were detained on suspicion of “membership in a terrorist organization” while three others allegedly supported the organization. One of the three alleged individuals is a Russian citizen. Almost half of the arrests took place in the southern states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.

Upon being asked about Russia’s involvement and alleged support for a coup attempt in Germany, the Kremlin said that there could be no question of any Russian involvement in the coup plot. “This appears to be a German internal problem,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “There can be no question of any Russian interference.”

Among the arrested individuals is also a man who calls himself Heinrich the XIII, Prince of Reuss. The 71-year-old detainee is a true descendent of the House of Reuss, a family who ruled over some parts of Germany for hundreds of years until the German revolution of 1918.

*^{Masked police officers lead Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss (center) to a police vehicle during a raid in Frankfurt, Germany on December 7, 2022. (Image Credit: Boris Roessler/dpa/Associated Press)}*

Heinrich has been on a mission to tear down the German government to bring back the glory days of old for himself and his family. His close relative and other members of the Reuss family describe Heinrich as an ‘old confused man’ and a conspiracy theorist, however, members of Reichsbuerger see him as the future leader of Germany.

Germany’s Justice Minister Marco Buschmann tweeted that a suspected “armed attack on constitutional bodies was being planned” by the group. Germany’s Minister of Interior and Community Affairs Nancy Faeser said that the investigation would peer into the “abyss of a terrorist threat from the Reichsburger scene”.

Several violent attacks have been linked to Germany’s far-right in recent years. In 2020, a 43-year-old man shot nine people of foreign origin in the western town of Hanau, and a Reichsburger member was jailed for killing a policeman in 2016. The Reichsburger movement is estimated to have as many as 21,000 followers, of whom around 5% are considered to belong to the extreme right.