KOBLENZ, GERMANY (AFP) – Five Germans went on trial yesterday over a far-right plot to kidnap the country’s health minister and overthrow the government in protest against COVID-19 restrictions.
Prosecutors said the four men and one woman wanted to “trigger civil war-like conditions in Germany by means of violence… to cause the overthrow of the government and parliamentary democracy”.
The plot included plans to violently abduct Health Minister Karl Lauterbach – unpopular among far-right groups because of anti-COVID measures.
The suspects believed the German empire of the 19th century was the country’s true system of government, and an authoritarian ruling order should be re-established.
The only female suspect – named as Elisabeth R – is thought to have been the ringleader. Their beliefs chime with those of the far-right Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, which rejects Germany’s democratic institutions and has attracted a growing number of followers.
They planned to trigger a nationwide blackout by damaging power lines before abducting Lauterbach, killing his bodyguards if necessary.
They then wanted to call a special assembly in Berlin to publicly depose the government and appoint a new leader, prosecutors said.
Lauterbach yesterday called for “tough” sentences for the suspects to help “deter copycats”.
Threats and even murder plots against politicians are on the rise thanks to “strong social polarisation” in German society, especially on online platforms, he said.
“Society continues to radicalise in extreme ways… It’s not letting up. We will have even bigger problems,” he told Der Spiegel magazine.
Long dismissed by critics as malcontents and oddballs, the Reichsbuerger have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.
