extremism
Trials against “Reich Citizens” terror group continue
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office accuses the nine defendants in the trial against the alleged “Reich Citizens” group around Prince Reuss of, among other things, membership in a terrorist organization. Photo
© Boris Roessler/dpa
They are said to have planned a violent coup – 18 men and women are on trial in Frankfurt and Stuttgart. In addition, investigations are continuing following a raid.
The trial against a suspected “Reich Citizens” terrorist group will continue today with witness interviews at the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt. Detectives are to be questioned on the person of Prince Heinrich XIII. Reuß, a Frankfurt businessman who is accused of being the ringleader, will be questioned.
Meanwhile, the investigations into the group are continuing, and yesterday there was another raid against possible supporters in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein. In Frankfurt, nine defendants are accused of having been members of a terrorist organization or of having supported it.
An armed coup was allegedly planned. The defendants knowingly accepted the risk of deaths, according to the prosecution. They are said to have already drawn up the basic structures for their own state order, and Reuss was intended to be the head of state.
Trials in Frankfurt and Stuttgart
The trial in Stuttgart will also continue today, where the alleged military arm of the group is on trial. A trial against alleged members of the group will also begin in Munich on June 18.
A large police force searched seven properties and three plots of land in Baden-Württemberg, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office announced. The “Spiegel” newspaper was the first to report this. In intercepted telephone conversations, individual suspects repeatedly spoke of large weapons caches that had not yet been discovered. According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the measures are directed against two suspects from Baden-Württemberg. No arrests have been made so far.
What is particularly interesting in the investigation is the question of what the police seized during the searches in Bad Teinach-Zavelstein and Althengstett (both in the Calw district), for example whether illegal weapons were among them. However, it is not expected that the Federal Prosecutor’s Office will reveal any details about this.
More than 700 police officers conduct searches
More than 700 officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Police and the state police of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Schleswig-Holstein were involved in the searches. The so-called Reich Citizens in Germany claim that the German Reich (1871-1945) still exists. They do not recognize the Federal Republic and its laws.
Yesterday, the Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt heard the results of investigations into the personal circumstances of the alleged ringleader Reuß, focusing on details such as company shareholdings, internet presence and clubs, the number of his cars as well as his finances, accounts and places of residence.
The defense attorneys had already rejected the prosecution’s allegations several times. Reuss himself wanted to speak out during the course of the trial. “It is his inner need to explain why violence could never be a goal in his life,” said his defense attorney Roman von Alvensleben. He did not say when this statement would be made.