Coup plot: Nine persons to face trial in Germany

In Stuttgart on Monday, the first phase of a lengthy multipart trial against individuals suspected of being part of a far-right conspiracy to attack the German parliament and topple the government got underway.

In the southwest city, nine members of the gang under the leadership of Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, a businessman and small nobility, will make their stand.

Among them were a special forces veteran, a well-known chef, an astrologer, and a former far-right MP.

They are charged by the prosecution with planning a “treasonous undertaking” to overthrow the German government.

The incident represents the most well-known instance of far-right violence in recent memory, which authorities claim has escalated to represent Germany’s largest extremist threat.

The trial of the accused plotters is being conducted in three courts because to its complexity and the requirement for additional security precautions.

A third set of procedures will begin in Munich in June, and Reuss, who was intended to be appointed as head of state following the alleged coup, will go on trial in Frankfurt in May.

Prosecutors claim that the accused putschists propagated a variety of “conspiracy myths” derived from the German Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) movement and the worldwide QAnon movement.

The Reichsbuerger movement is made up of gun enthusiasts and right-wing extremists who doubt the validity of the current German republic.

Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy, and several groups have declared their own states.

‘Hatred of democracy’ 

Such Reichsbuerger groups were driven by “hatred of our democracy”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in Berlin on Sunday.

“We will continue our tough approach until we have fully exposed and dismantled militant ‘Reichsbuerger’ structures,” she added.

According to investigators, Reuss’s group shared a belief that Germany was run by members of a “deep state” and that it could be freed with the help of a secret international network, known as the “alliance”.

The suspects on trial in Stuttgart are alleged to have belonged to the “military arm” of the coup plot, tasked with establishing “territorial defence companies”.

Among the accused are a special forces soldier, identified only as Andreas M., who is said to have used his access to scout out army barracks.

Others were allegedly responsible for the group’s IT systems or tasked with liaising with the fictitious “alliance”, which they thought would rally to their aid when the coup was launched.

The nine include Alexander Q., who is accused by federal prosecutors of acting as the group’s propagandist, spreading conspiracy theories via the Telegram messaging app.

Two of the defendants, Markus L. and Ralf S., are accused of weapons offences in addition to the charge of treason.

Markus L. is also accused of attempted murder for allegedly turning an assault rifle on police and injuring two officers during a raid at his address in March 2023.

Police swooped in to arrest most of the group in raids across Germany in December 2022 and the charges were brought at the end of last year.

Three-part trial

In all, 26 people are accused in the affair split across three courts, with the proceedings in Stuttgart set to continue until early 2025.

Reuss will stand trial in Frankfurt from May 21, alongside another ringleader, the ex-army officer Ruediger v.P., and a former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.

The Reichsbuerger group had allegedly organised a “council” to take charge after their planned putsch, with officials warning preparations were at an advanced stage.

The alleged plotters had resources amounting to 500,000 euros ($536,000) and a “massive arsenal of weapons”, according to federal prosecutors.

Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, believers in Reichsbuerger-type conspiracies have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.

Earlier this month, police charged a new suspect in relation to another coup plot.

The plotters, frustrated with pandemic-era restrictions, planned to kidnap the German health minister, according to investigators.

Five other suspected co-conspirators in that plot went on trial in Koblenz last May.

AFP