Far-right movement suspected of planning coup d'état - wants to take power in Germany

25 arrested in German dawn raid  

AFP: Russia denies links to the coup  

Far-right movement suspected of planning coup d'état - wants to take power in Germany  

Of:  

Annica Ögren, 

Lina Thorén Published: Today 12.06  

Updated: Very recently  

NEWS  

On Wednesday morning, German police carried out a huge raid across the country.  

25 people have been arrested. They are said to be supporters of a network suspected of planning a coup d'état to overthrow the German government. 

The police suspect that the movement contacted Russian authorities for help. The Russian embassy in Germany denies involvement. 

In Wednesday's dawn raid, the police arrested 25 people with connections to the far-right Reichsbürger network.  

Among those arrested are a Russian, a German prince, former elite soldiers and a former member of parliament for the right-wing nationalist Alternative for Germany (AFD).  

One of the arrested is taken away by the police. Photo: Michael Probst/AP 

22 of those arrested are German citizens believed to be members of the Reichsbürger movement.  

They are suspected of having planned an armed coup against the German government together with supporters in the movement. 

The group's goal is said to have been to attack the Bundestag in Berlin, overthrow the democratic government in Germany and re-establish the German Empire.  

A further 27 people are under investigation, AP reports.  

A police helicopter carrying a suspect arrives at the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe. Photo: Michael Probst/AP  

Dawn raids across the country  

According to German authorities, 3,000 police officers took part in Wednesday morning's giant raid. Tied them the elite federal police force GSG 9.  

Over 130 houses and apartments in eleven of Germany's sixteen states are said to have been searched.  

One person was arrested in Kitzbühel in Austria and one in the Italian city of Perugia, the rest were arrested in various locations in Germany. 

Secret meetings at hunting lodges 

One of those arrested is the German nobleman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss.  

The police suspect that part of the planning for the intended coup d'état took place at the prince's hunting lodge.

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Here the nobleman Prince Heinrich XIII is arrested in Frankfurt. Photo: Boris Roessler / AP  

Here, the nobleman Prince Heinrich XIII is taken away by the police. Photo: Boris Roessler / AP

Russia contact  

An elderly man in his 70s is believed to have a leading role, according to German police.  

According to the prosecutor's office, the person in question must have contacted Russian authorities with the aim of negotiating a new order in Germany after the German government was overthrown, reports the Norwegian Dagbladet. 

- According to current investigations, however, there is nothing to indicate that the people who were contacted reacted positively to his request, says the prosecutor according to Dagbladet.  

The Russian embassy in Germany denies any involvement in the plans.

Two of the up to 3,000 police who took part in the dawn raid. Photo: Boris Roessler / AP  

The police reportedly raided 130 locations across the country linked to the Reich Citizens movement. Photo: Paul Zinken / AP  

Facts  

Reichsbürger movement  

The Reichsbürger network does not recognize the Federal Republic of Germany.  

Instead, they swear allegiance to the old German Reich, founded in 1871 and dissolved when the Allies occupied Germany at the end of World War II in 1945.  

The German Empire was an empire - something the Reichsbürger movement wants to reinstate. The police in Germany have been aware of the movement since 2016.