terrorism
Ex-Bundeswehr officer Franco A. briefly arrested
The accused Franco A. has been before the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court since May 2021. Photo: Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images Europe/Pool/dpa/Archive
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A trial on suspicion of terrorism is ongoing in Frankfurt against former Bundeswehr soldier Franco A. Now an incident outside the courtroom is causing a stir.
The former Bundeswehr officer Franco A., who is suspected of being a terrorist, has been temporarily arrested in Offenbach.
He was taken to a police station during an identity check on Friday evening and then released again, said a spokesman for the police headquarters in Southeast Hesse on Saturday. Several media had previously reported about it.
The police did not give the background to the short-term arrest on Sunday either. The Berlin “Tagesspiegel” (online) wrote, citing a witness, that Franco A. had massively resisted his provisional arrest. Accordingly, there was “a loud and physical argument” between him and the police.
In court since May 2021
Franco A. has been before the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court since May 2021. He is said to have planned attacks on politicians, including the then Minister of Justice and later Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD). According to the indictment, the former officer also assumed a false identity as a Syrian refugee – from the point of view of the prosecutors, in order to direct the suspicion of an attack on refugees and to shake confidence in asylum policy. The federal prosecutor sees a völkisch-nationalist attitude as a motive. Franco A. largely denies the allegations. He admitted, however, that he had guns.
Because of the allegations, Franco A. was in custody after his arrest in spring 2017, but was released around six months later. He comes from Offenbach.