Raid in Dresden because of plans to murder Saxony’s Prime Minister Kretschmer
Vaccination opponents forged murder plans against him: Michael Kretschmer (CDU)
Source: dpa-infocom GmbH
According to a media report, statements about murder plans against Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer were made in a Telegram group. As a result, the LKA Sachsen searched several houses in Dresden.
NAfter threats against Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) in the Telegram communications service, the police in Dresden searched several objects. Special forces from the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) were also involved, as statements by individual members of the Telegram group suggested that they might be in possession of sharp weapons and crossbows, the police said on Wednesday morning on the short message service Twitter. According to an LKA spokesman, the objects are mainly apartments.
According to a report by the ZDF magazine “Frontal” a week ago, death threats against the Prime Minister of Saxony appeared in the Telegram communications service, among other things in connection with the discussion about compulsory corona vaccination.
The General Public Prosecutor’s Office in Dresden and the LKA Sachsen then started investigations. As part of the investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of preparing a serious act of violence, the SokoRex of the Police Terrorism and Extremism Defense Center (PTAZ) implemented search warrants, it said on Wednesday morning.
The LKA had announced last week that it was specifically about a Telegram chat group called “Dresden Offline Networking”. In their communication and in conversations at meetings that were secretly and partly openly filmed in the greater Dresden area, there were statements on plans to kill “Kretschmer and other representatives of the state government.
The threats had caused outrage among politicians. Kretschmer himself had emphasized: “We have to take all legal means against such a delimitation. People who hold public office shouldn’t have to be afraid to speak their mind and do their job. “
Tougher conditions for Telegram?
Recently the calls for tougher conditions for Telegram had become louder. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder told the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Wednesday) that Telegram was one of the central means of transport for hatred and agitation on the Internet. “First you have to make a clear request to Telegram to eliminate hatred and agitation and to make it legally binding,” said the CSU boss. “If this service then does not agree to help, then there are also ways to block.” This depends on how the service provider reacts.
Renate Künast, Member of the Green Party, called for a “clear regulation”. “The future of democracy is apparently decided on the Internet, so we must finally stop lagging behind,” she told the German press agency. In addition to individual communication, Telegram also allows group discussions for several thousand users.
The Federal Office of Justice takes the view that Telegram is not just a messenger service, but a social network. As a result, the Network Enforcement Act applies to Telegram – just as it does to Facebook and Twitter. Among other things, this requires that criminal content be quickly blocked or deleted. According to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, supporters of the corona denier scene in particular use the service to spread their messages and to mobilize for demonstrations and events.