The group tried to recruit members especially from among the police and soldiers.
13:08•Updated 14:23
In Germany, the police have arrested 25 people suspected of preparing a coup, the country’s prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday.
According to the prosecutor, persons connected to the far-right Reichsbürger movement are suspected of preparing a violent attack on the German parliament.
Among those arrested are one serving soldier and several reservists, a representative of the German military intelligence Bamadi told news agency Reuters.
One of the arrested is a former parliamentarian of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party, German media reported.
According to the prosecutor, the persons arrested now have been preparing for a coup for ideological reasons since November 2021. The preparation has included, among other things, acquiring equipment, holding shooting exercises and recruiting new members.
Attempts were made to attract new members to the activity, mainly from among soldiers and policemen, the prosecutor says.
A large police operation
More than 3,000 police officers from around the country participated in Wednesday’s arrests.
The police operation was carried out in 11 states and arrests were made in the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Saxony and Lower Saxony and Thuringia.
According to the prosecutor, arrests were also made in Italy and Austria. Military intelligence Bamad says that the police operation carried out now was preceded by a long cooperation with the domestic intelligence service and the criminal police of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The threat of the extreme right has increased
In Germany, the terrorist movement linked to the extreme right has grown in recent years.
In 2020, the country recorded the highest number of crimes related to the extreme right in two decades. At that time, more than 23,000 crimes were considered to have some connection to far-right ideology.
– That is more than half of all politically motivated crimes, Germany’s interior minister at the time Horst Seehofer comment in spring 2021.
He pointed out at the time that crimes linked to far-left ideology have also been on the rise in Germany.
Source: Reuters, AFP