André Rhoden-Paul
BBC News
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Five members of a German far-right group have been jailed for plotting to overthrow the government and kidnap its health minister.
Four of the group were described as “ringleaders” of a “terrorist organisation” which planned to use violence to trigger civil war-like conditions in Germany.
The group had planned to kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach – an advocate of strict Covid-19 measures during the pandemic – and to kill his bodyguards if necessary.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the defendants had posed “an enormous threat” to national security.
The Koblenz higher regional court heard the group came together in January 2022 and devised a plan which included a sabotage attack to disable the power grid.
The group – made up of four men aged between 46 and 58 and a 77-year-old woman – had hoped they would be joined by disgruntled members of the security forces.
Four defendants described as ringleaders were sentenced to between five years and nine months and eight years in jail by a court in western Germany.
A fifth defendant received a two year and 10 month sentence following the almost two-year trial.
The identities of the five people convicted have not been publicly disclosed.
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The group planned to kidnap Prof Karl Lauterbach
The group were associated with Citizens of the Reich whose followers believe the German Empire, which collapsed in 1918, continues to exist. Investigators say it was led by Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, a German aristocrat.
They are also said to have taken inspiration from the QAnon conspiracy theory movement, which is associated with some Donald Trump’s supporters in the US.
After the verdict, Lauterbach – of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SDP) – thanked the police and said the state had shown “it can defend itself against violent conspiracy theorists”.
Faeser said: “The violent plans for a coup, for attacks on the electricity infrastructure, for the kidnapping of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and for the killing of his bodyguards have shown an enormous threat.”
She added that security services “take the threats posed by the Citizens of the Reich scene seriously and “we are protecting our democracy”.
The sentencing follows several trials targeting far-right groups linked to Citizens of Reich which reject the legitimacy of the modern German state.
