A 53-year-old Munich resident was sentenced to suspended imprisonment on Monday in Stuttgart for attempting to found a terrorist organization. The former soldier, who had given lectures on security policy for both the German armed forces and the Munich CSU in the past, and a friend of his were involved in the civil war that had been raging in Yemen for years and wanted to make a big buck. The two men were sentenced to 14 and 18 months in prison on Monday in Stuttgart for the failed plans to set up a mercenary force. Both sentences were suspended.
According to the court, the man who came up with the idea and his long-time friend were pursuing a seemingly naïve goal: with a group of up to 150 men from former or still active soldiers, they had hoped to be able to enforce peace in the torn South Arabian country. But Achim A. and his accomplice were “unsuccessful across the board,” summed up the presiding judge of the State Protection Senate. “The defendants have achieved nothing at all.” However, they would have accepted the death of uninvolved people, as emerged from chat histories and witness statements. There were plans to starve areas in Yemen or cut off water supplies.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office found the verdict to be important. The court made it clear that Germans are liable to prosecution if they take part in military combat abroad, the representative of the public prosecutor said after the decision. The two men, who left the Bundeswehr many years ago, were arrested two years ago in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district and in Munich, and they have fully acknowledged the allegations. The verdict is final because both the federal prosecutor’s office and the defense waived an appeal.