The raid led to the nationwide arrest of 25 people belonging to the ‘Reichsbürger’ movement. The group is suspected of planning to violently enter the German Bundestag (the German federal parliament) with a small armed group, prosecutors announced in a statement.
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann explained in a Twitter post that the large-scale ‘anti-terrorist operation’ was a response to a planned armed attack on German constitutional bodies.
Some 3,000 law enforcement officers were mobilised across Germany and more than 130 searches were conducted. In addition to the 25 arrests, 27 other people are being investigated on suspicion of belonging to the criminal cell, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The investigation is expected to determine whether there are elements constituting the crime of plotting to overthrow the state (an act of high treason), the prosecutors added.
Founded by the end of 2021 at the latest, the group aims to ‘overcome the existing state order in Germany and replace it with a form of state of its own’, according to a statement from the Karlsruhe public prosecutor’s office, which is responsible for cases concerning state security. This could only be achieved through the use of military means and violence against representatives of the state, the statement continues.
Its members are united by a deep-rooted rejection of the state institutions and the liberal and democratic order of the Federal Republic of Germany, the prosecutors explain, which over time has led to their decision to eliminate the order by means of violence.
In recent years, the German authorities have ranked right-wing extremist violence as the number one threat to public order, ahead of the jihadist risk. In spring 2022, German authorities had dismantled a far-right group suspected of planning attacks in the country in addition to the kidnapping of the health minister.
