The hijackers reportedly defied Germany’s coronavirus restrictions.
In Germany, hearings begin today in a case where members of a far-right movement have been accused of planning to kidnap the country’s health minister, Karl Lauterbach.
The police put a stop to that plan in April last year. According to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, the accused are four men and one woman. According to the newspaper, he is also accused of plotting to overthrow the federal government.
The planners of Lauterbach’s kidnapping reportedly defied Germany’s coronavirus restrictions.
The defendants belong to the so-called Reichsberger group (Finnish nationals). It consists of several movements, all of which oppose the current German regime. This group includes far rightists, conspiracy theorists and gun fanatics, among others. It is believed that ex-servicemen and police officers are also involved in this.
While preparing for the coup, the group acquired weapons, conducted shooting training and tried to recruit new members, especially from among the police and soldiers.
“Citizens of the State” were previously regarded as an eccentric group of mostly disaffected people, but the group has since been estimated to pose an increasingly serious threat to Germany’s security.
The prosecutor has said that one of the group’s members is a member of a small aristocratic family, a “prince” who was to be appointed “as the new leader of Germany after the coup”.
For many years the far-right movement in Germany has been regarded as the biggest threat to the country’s internal security.
