Jump to content

2022 German coup d'état plot: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m →‎Investigations and arrests: Spelling/grammar/punctuation/typographical correction
Line 45: Line 45:
The conspirators planned to cooperate with Russia, but the Public Prosecutor General reported on 7 December 2022 that from what they know so far, Russia did not "react positively" to the request:<ref name="pressrelease"/> a spokesperson from the [[Embassy of Russia, Berlin|Russian Embassy in Berlin]] later denied any involvement,<ref name=Connolly/> and on 8 December [[Dmitry Peskov]] issued a statement denying the [[Kremlin]]'s involvement in the failed coup d'état.<ref name=lci/>
The conspirators planned to cooperate with Russia, but the Public Prosecutor General reported on 7 December 2022 that from what they know so far, Russia did not "react positively" to the request:<ref name="pressrelease"/> a spokesperson from the [[Embassy of Russia, Berlin|Russian Embassy in Berlin]] later denied any involvement,<ref name=Connolly/> and on 8 December [[Dmitry Peskov]] issued a statement denying the [[Kremlin]]'s involvement in the failed coup d'état.<ref name=lci/>


According to Croatian daily [[Jutarnji list]], in 2018 Reichsburger members attempted to procure weapons in Croatia, including: automatic rifles, snipers, light machine guns, hand grenades and shotguns left over from the [[Croatian War of Intependence]]. The joint investigation between Croatian and German police ended with 16 people arrested and convicted individuals who were given prison sentences by a court in Munich in June 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-10 |title=Jutarnji list - Organizatori puča u Njemačkoj kupovali oružje u Hrvatskoj: ‘Aleksander je imao ženu u Zadru...‘ |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/crna-kronika/organizatori-puca-u-njemackoj-kupovali-oruzje-u-hrvatskoj-aleksander-je-imao-zenu-u-zadru-15284964 |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=www.jutarnji.hr |language=hr-hr}}</ref>
According to Croatian daily [[Jutarnji list]], in 2018 Reichsburger members attempted to procure weapons in Croatia, including: automatic rifles, snipers, light machine guns, hand grenades and shotguns left over from the [[Croatian War of Independence]]. The joint investigation between Croatian and German police ended with 16 people arrested and convicted individuals who were given prison sentences by a court in Munich in June 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-10 |title=Jutarnji list - Organizatori puča u Njemačkoj kupovali oružje u Hrvatskoj: ‘Aleksander je imao ženu u Zadru...‘ |url=https://www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/crna-kronika/organizatori-puca-u-njemackoj-kupovali-oruzje-u-hrvatskoj-aleksander-je-imao-zenu-u-zadru-15284964 |access-date=2022-12-11 |website=www.jutarnji.hr |language=hr-hr}}</ref>


== Reactions ==
== Reactions ==

Revision as of 13:44, 11 December 2022

2022 Germany coup d'état plot
Part of the Reichsbürger movement
The Reichstag, location of the Bundestag in Berlin, the main target of the alleged coup plot
Date7 December 2022; 20 months ago (2022-12-07)
GoalsOverthrow of the current federal German government with a monarchy modeled on the German Empire
Resulted inPlot foiled, arrests of alleged conspirators including Heinrich Reuss and Birgit Malsack-Winkemann
Parties
Patriotic Union
Number
Casualties
Arrested25

On 7 December 2022, 25 members of a far-right terrorist group were arrested for allegedly planning a coup d'état in Germany.[2] The group, called Patriotic Union (German: Patriotische Union)(de), which is led by a Council (German: Rat)[3], is a German far-right extremist Reichsbürger movement.[citation needed] The group aims to reestablish a monarchist government in Germany in the tradition of the German Reich, with the government being similar to the German Empire. The group allegedly wanted to provoke chaos and a civil war in Germany in order for it to take power.[4]

Over 3,000 police and special forces searched 130 locations throughout Germany and made several arrests, including Heinrich Reuss, a descendant of the former aristocratic House of Reuß, as well as former Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.[5] The group also included active military and police personnel. The operation against the group is considered to be the largest in Germany's history, and the Public Prosecutor General Peter Frank declared the group to be a terrorist organization.[6]

Members

Prosecutors reported that approximately more than 50 organisers were Reichsbürger movement members, a cluster of far-right groups which reject the current liberal democratic basic order of Germany and are associated with violence and antisemitism.[1] The plotters reportedly included QAnon followers and COVID-19 deniers.[2] The group was divided into areas of responsibility. The Federal Public Prosecutor has 52 suspects and arrested 25 of them.[1]

The group also included several former members of the Special Forces Command (KSK), including a former lieutenant colonel of the Paratrooper Battalion of the Bundeswehr, Rüdiger von Pescatore [de].[7] The GSG9 searched a KSK site of the Graf Zeppelin Barracks near Calw. Rüdiger von Pescatore was supposed to lead the "military arm" of the group. The Federal Public Prosecutor describes von Pescatore alongside Heinrich Reuss as a "ringleader". Von Pescatore is said to have tried to recruit police officers and soldiers.[8] Members also included a former Oberst Maximilian Eder,[9] former criminal police officer Michael Fritsch from Hanover[10] a former Oberst Peter Wörner from Bayreuth, who started a business for survival training,[9] a lawyer Tim Paul Gorgas from Hanover and a surgeon Melanie Ritter from Lower Saxony.[citation needed]

Malsack-Winkemann, a lawyer and judge in the state of Berlin, is said to have been designated as the future "minister of justice".[11] She was a member of the German Bundestag from 2017 to 2021 for the AfD and was arrested on 7 December 2022.[11] The group included at least one other AfD politician, Christian Wendler,[12] an AfD former Stadtrat (local councillor) from Olbernhau in the Saxon Ore Mountains.[13]

According to Der Spiegel, the "Patriotic Union" group had "an unusual amount of money" with which they had bought weapons as well as satellite phones. One of the properties raided by the police, hunting lodge Waidmannsheil in Bad Lobenstein, which belongs to alleged ringleader Reuss, serves as the business address for several companies linked to the London-based asset management firm Heinrich XIII. Prinz Reuß & Anderson & Peters Ltd.[5][14]

Ideology and aims

The alleged aim of the group was to establish a monarchic government similar to the German Empire of 1871 to 1918. Since November 2021, the network is alleged to have been planning an armed attack on the Bundestag, as well as public arrests of politicians to cause public unrest. The "Patriotic Union" assumed that parts of the German security authorities would then have shown solidarity with their effort, which would have led to an "overthrow" and allow the group to take power.[15]

The group is known to be right-wing, and regularly promotes antisemitic ideology.[2] The planned coup included a storming of the Reichstag, the German parliament building, inspired by the January 6 United States Capitol attack from 2021.[16]

Investigations and arrests

Heinrich Reuss, who is also self-styled as Prince Heinrich XIII, was among those arrested for alleged participation in the plot.

German police authorities have been investigating the group since spring 2022. The group is also made up of parts of the radicalized German Querdenken movement. Reuss was the starting point for the investigations, which ended up being carried out by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) under the name "Shadow". In addition, several state criminal investigation offices and state authorities for the protection of the constitution were involved. German authorities stated that the coup had been planned since November 2021 and would have been a violent, terroristic overthrow of the current government. Police had first learned about them in April 2022, when they arrested members of the so-called "United Patriots" who were said to have planned to abduct Karl Lauterbach, the Federal Minister of Health of Germany.[2] In September 2022 they started with the close monitoring of 52 suspects.[16]

Around 3,000 police officers were involved with the operations to arrest the conspirators, who mainly came from the southern German states of Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, but also included people in 9 other German states and in Austria and Italy. Among the people arrested were aristocrats, a former Member of Parliament, as well as former and active members of the military.[2] "Vitalia B", the Russian life companion of Reuss,[17] through whom he was able to secure interim financing from three Russian individuals, was also arrested.[18][19] Frank Heppner, a celebrity chef, was also arrested on 7 December. It is alleged that Heppner was a commander of the group's military wing responsible for recruitment, obtaining weapons and building a secure communications system.[20] Heppner would also have supplied the group's troops with food after the successful coup.[21][22]

The conspirators planned to cooperate with Russia, but the Public Prosecutor General reported on 7 December 2022 that from what they know so far, Russia did not "react positively" to the request:[19] a spokesperson from the Russian Embassy in Berlin later denied any involvement,[16] and on 8 December Dmitry Peskov issued a statement denying the Kremlin's involvement in the failed coup d'état.[18]

According to Croatian daily Jutarnji list, in 2018 Reichsburger members attempted to procure weapons in Croatia, including: automatic rifles, snipers, light machine guns, hand grenades and shotguns left over from the Croatian War of Independence. The joint investigation between Croatian and German police ended with 16 people arrested and convicted individuals who were given prison sentences by a court in Munich in June 2022.[23]

Reactions

Within Germany

International

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Bennhold, Katrin; Solomon, Erika (7 December 2022). "Germany Arrests 25 Suspected of Planning to Overthrow Government". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e Kirby, Paul (7 December 2022). "Germany arrests 25 accused of plotting coup". BBC. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Press Release of the German Federal Attorney General". 7 December 2022.
  4. ^ Hume, Tim (7 December 2022). "Germany Takes Out Far-Right Coup Plotters". Vice News. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Hemmerling, Axel; Malak, Nadja; Junker, Monique; Kendzia, Ludwig; Wierzioch, Bastian (7 December 2022). "Großrazzia: Gruppe soll Staatsumsturz geplant haben – Reussen-Prinz festgenommen" [Large-Scale Raid: Group was Planning Coup – Prince Reuss Arrested]. Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (in German). Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  6. ^ Nicholson, Esme (7 December 2022). "Germany says it foiled a far-right coup plot. Here's what we know". OPB. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  7. ^ Bock, Jürgen; Feyder, Franz (7 December 2022). "Einsätze gegen Reichsbürger: Wenn frühmorgens Türen zerbersten" [Deployments Against Reichsbürger: When Doors are Knocked Down Early in the Morning]. Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 8 December 2022.
  8. ^ "Ziel war ein Systemwechsel" [The Goal was a System Change]. taz (in German). taz/afp. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  9. ^ a b Patsch, Sabrina; Geiler, Julius (7 December 2022). "Die Köpfe hinter dem vereitelten Staatsstreich". Tagesspiegel (in German). Archived from the original on 7 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Razzia bei 'Reichsbürgern': Das ist der festgenommene Michael Fritsch aus Hannover" [Raid on 'Reichsbürger': This is the Arrested Michael Fritsch from Hannover]. Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (in German). 7 December 2022. Archived from the original on 8 December 2022.
  11. ^ a b Oltermann, Philip (7 December 2022). "Key figures behind alleged far-right plot to overthrow the German government". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  12. ^ Lauer, Stefan (7 December 2022). "Das sind die AfD-Helfer Beim Reichsbürger-Umsturzversuch" [These are the Alternative for Germany Helpers for the Reichsbürger Coup Attempt]. Belltower.news (in German). Archived from the original on 8 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Raid against Reich Citizens Scene: two arrests in Saxony". Detail Zero. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Ein 'Rädelsführer' und die 'Reichsbürger' in Thüringen" [A 'Ringleader' and the 'Reichsbürger' in Thüringen]. Wirtschaftswoche (in German). dpa. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Festnahmen bei Reichsbürger-Razzia – Anführer der Gruppe aus Frankfurt" [Arrests in Reichsbürger raid – leader of the group from Frankfurt]. Hessenschau (in German). Hessischer Rundfunk. 7 December 2022.
  16. ^ a b c Connolly, Kate (7 December 2022). "German police raids target alleged far-right extremists seeking to overthrow state". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
  17. ^ Hoyer, Katja (7 December 2022). "Germany's failed coup shows the danger of conspiracy theories". The Spectator. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  18. ^ a b c "Allemagne : un coup d'Etat par un réseau terroriste d'extrême droite déjoué" [Germany: a coup by a far-right terrorist network foiled] (in French). LCI. YouTube. 8 December 2022.
  19. ^ a b "Der Generalbundesanwalt - Aktuelle Pressemitteilungen - Festnahmen von 25 mutmaßlichen Mitgliedern und Unterstützern einer terroristischen Vereinigung sowie Durchsuchungsmaßnahmen in elf Bundesländern bei insgesamt 52 Beschuldigten" [The Attorney General - Current press releases - Arrest of 25 suspected members and supporters of a terrorist organization and search measures in eleven federal states on a total of 52 suspects]. Public Prosecutor General of Germany (in German). 7 December 2022.
  20. ^ Connolly, Kate (10 December 2022). "Ex-police officer and celebrity chef among 25 people arrested over coup plot in Germany". Irish Times.
  21. ^ Minelle, Bethany (10 December 2022). "Celebrity chef Frank Heppner is 'suspect' in German far-right coup plot, according to reports". Sky News.
  22. ^ Connolly, Kate (9 December 2022). "Celebrity chef among suspects in Germany rightwing coup plot". The Guardian. Berlin. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  23. ^ "Jutarnji list - Organizatori puča u Njemačkoj kupovali oružje u Hrvatskoj: 'Aleksander je imao ženu u Zadru...'". www.jutarnji.hr (in Croatian). 10 December 2022. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Germany arrests 25 accused of plotting coup". BBC News. 7 December 2022. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
  25. ^ Dahm, Julia (9 December 2022). "US offers Germany anti-extremism help after failed far-right coup". Euractiv. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2022_German_coup_d%27état_plot&oldid=1126837146"