Conspiracy theories and rejection of democracy: the first day of an unprecedented trial in recent times of nine Germans, suspected of belonging to a small extremist group, gave Monday an overview of die-hard ideology of this armed network.
Aged between 42 and 60, the defendants arrived handcuffed, covering their faces with files, into the courtroom of the Stuttgart court, protected by impressive security measures.
The nine suspects are the first of 26 members of this extremist network dismantled at the end of 2022 to appear in court.
Two more trials are planned in a few weeks in Frankfurt and Munich for the rest of the group. “This is probably one of the biggest procedures in history,” said the spokesperson for the Stuttgart court, Lars Kremmner, citing in particular the “more than 700 binders with more than 400,000 sheets” collected for investigation.
Rebellion
The small group, nourished by conspiratorial and far-right ideologies, those of the “Reichsbürger” (“citizens of the Reich”), planned to invade the German chamber of deputies in Berlin to arrest the elected officials and was determined to overthrow the government. .
The nine men called to the stand Monday, most suspected of having been in charge of the network’s military operations, were convinced that Germany was run by a “conspiratory sect of pedophile elites”, according to the indictment read by the prosecutor. An ideology reminiscent of the QAnon conspiracy movement from the United States.
To oppose this sect, they believed in the existence of a secret “alliance” between different states, including Russia and the United States, which would have helped them to liberate Germany, explained the prosecutor.
The alleged mastermind of the network is a septuagenarian aristocrat and businessman, Henry XIII, known as Prince Reuss, a descendant of a line from the State of Thuringia.
He will be tried with eight other alleged ringleaders, including a former far-right MP and a former high-ranking army officer, in Frankfurt from May 21.
The movement was structured at the end of July 2021, with a political and military organization, with a view to a coup d’état.
The shadow of Moscow
The Reichsbürger brings together right-wing extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German Republic: they believe in the sustainability of the German Reich before the First World War, in the form of a monarchy, and several groups of Sympathizers decreed the creation of their own mini-states.
The shadow of Moscow hangs over the plot. The alleged companion of Henry XIII, a Russian national named “Vitalia B.”, is in fact suspected of having “put the aristocrat in contact with the Russian consulate general in Leipzig and accompanied him there in June 2022”.
Henry XIII sought to ensure support from Moscow, even if, at the time of the dismantling of the cell, the Kremlin had denied any “interference”.
Arsenal
The network had given itself the means to achieve its ambitions, with “around 500,000 euros” at its disposal, as well as an “arsenal of around 380 firearms, nearly 350 bladed weapons as well as 500 other weapons and at least 148,000 rounds of ammunition,” according to investigators.
He had also purchased other equipment, including ballistic helmets, body armor, night vision devices and handcuffs.
In Stuttgart, most of the nine defendants are suspected of having tried to recruit other people to their cause in the ranks of the German army or police, or among former members of these two institutions.
Among the nine suspects, Markus H. and Andreas M. were part of the management bodies, while Matthias H. and Steffen W. were responsible for military training.
Another suspect, Markus L., is additionally charged with attempted murder for shooting police officers at point-blank range in March 2022.
For each of the three trials, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Munich, the courts have scheduled around fifty hearing days, until at least January 2025.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / afp
