Two judicial vehicles, each carrying the defendants, drive into the courtyard before the start of the trial of members of the “United Patriots” group at the High District Court in Koblenz, Germany, Wednesday , May 17, 2023.
Sebastian Gollnow/AP
hide captions
switch captions
Sebastian Gollnow/AP
Two judicial vehicles, each carrying the defendants, drive into the courtyard before the start of the trial of members of the “United Patriots” group at the High District Court in Koblenz, Germany, Wednesday , May 17, 2023.
Sebastian Gollnow/AP
BERLIN — Five people were on trial in Germany on Wednesday charged with planning a far-right coup and plotting to kidnap the country’s health minister.
Four men, aged 44 to 56, and a 75-year-old woman were charged with founding or being a member of a terrorist and treasonous organization.
Federal prosecutors say the group is related to the Reich Citizens background that rejects the legitimacy of Germany’s post-war constitution and has similarities to the Sovereign Citizen and QAnon movements in the United States.
Prosecutors said they intended to create “civil war-like conditions” by using explosives to cause a nationwide blackout, then kidnapping Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a supporter. Households highlight strict measures against corona virus.
There is no indication that the group calling themselves the United Patriots is about to launch a coup. But prosecutors said the group’s purchases of weapons and money showed they were “dangerous criminals who wanted to carry out their plans.”
The men, whose names were not released for privacy reasons, were arrested last April. Police at the time seized 22 guns, including a Kalashnikov rifle, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as large amounts of cash, gold and silver.
The woman, who was arrested six months later, is said to have drafted numerous documents for the group, including an ‘arrest warrant’ for Lauterbach. The retired teacher also wrote letters to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Polish President Andrzej Duda.
Lauterbach told the German weekly Der Spiegel that he hoped a “fair, tough sentence” would deter others from planning similar plots.
This case is separate from the case of more than two dozen people were arrested in December, also for plans to overthrow the government. Among the conspirators was a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.
