A court in Germany has convicted five members of an extremist group linked to the "Reichsbürger" movement of plotting a coup and attempting to kidnap the country's health minister.
As the Guardian reports, four people aged 46 to 58 and a 77-year-old woman, who belonged to a criminal group they had called "United Patriots", were sentenced on Thursday to prison terms of between five and eight years, while the fifth defendant was sentenced to two years and 10 months.
The case of the far-right group is just one of many cases of extremists clinging to conspiracy theories and aiming to undermine the legitimacy of the modern German state.
The “United Patriots” had devised a plan to kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a move that signaled their contempt for the restrictions imposed by the government to protect against Covid-19.
They also intended to kill his bodyguards, if necessary. After the verdict, Lauterbach, of the center-left Social Democrats, thanked "the police and the judiciary for investigating and punishing the planned crime."
"Investigations into this terrorist group have uncovered a minefield. Violent plans for a coup, for attacks on the electricity infrastructure, for the kidnapping of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and for the murder of his bodyguards showed a major threat. The security services take the threats posed by citizens of the Reich scene seriously and act accordingly. We are protecting our democracy," said Interior Minister Nancy Feiser after the court's decision.
"Silent Night" Project
As stated in court, the far-right criminal group was formed in January 2022, planning to create conditions for civil war in Germany through violence and seize state power.
Their plan involved sabotaging and disabling the electrical grid, an operation they called "Silent Night."
They hoped that the chaos they would cause would convince disgruntled members of the security forces to join them in their coup attempt.
Followers of the "Citizens of the Reich" movement claim that the German Empire, which collapsed in 1918, still exists. Other cases have been initiated by courts in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart. Some have resulted in convictions, while others are ongoing. (A2 Televizion)
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