German court convicts three over plot to overthrow govt

A German court imposed jail terms on three members of an extremist Reichsbuerger-linked group. The defendants were found guilty of membership in a terrorist organization and of supporting it, along with complicity in preparing an act of high treason. The court said the group aimed to provoke circumstances akin to civil war and overthrow the government. The presiding judge described the plot as unlikely to succeed but said the conspiracy was still a criminal offense because it involved planned armed violence. The court also linked the defendants’ radicalisation to skepticism formed during the Covid pandemic, which later expanded into rejection of the state and willingness to fight the German republic’s order. The group was dismantled in 2022 and had previously plotted to kidnap Karl Lauterbach.

"The Munich court said it had handed a sentence of two years and three months to 62-year-old Rainer S., who was found guilty of membership in a terrorist organisation named in court as the "Imperial Group". Two other men, 71-year-old Joachim K. and 60-year-old Achim M., were found guilty of supporting the group and received suspended sentences of one year and nine months and one year and four months respectively. All three were also found of complicity in "preparing an act of high treason" in the trial, one of numerous court proceedings against groups linked to the Reichsbuerger."

"Presiding judge Jochen Boesl described the group as "exotic" and said it was "more than questionable" as to whether their plot ever had a chance of succeeding. Nevertheless, the conspiracy was a criminal offence, he said. "Everyone is free to be as mad as they please, but the line is crossed when the use of armed violence is planned," Boesl said, according to a court statement."

"The trio adhered to the ideology of the "Reichsbuerger" (Citizens of the Reich) movement of conspiracy theorists who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic and were found to have radicalised during the Covid pandemic. Boesl described the hearings as a study into "the after-effects of the coronavirus pandemic", and the court said the men had developed "scepticism towards the restrictions that came with the pandemic". This had then turned into a broader "rejection of the state and then a willingness to actively fight the order of the German republic"."

"The group, which was dismantled in 2022, had earlier also plotted to kidnap then health minister Karl Lauterbach, at the time a figure of scorn for many opponents of Covid restrictions. The court said the trio plotted to provoke "circumstances akin to civil war" and overthrow the government."

Read at The Local Germany