In the nationwide raid against the Reich Citizens' Scene there were arrests in the single digits in Hesse. The alleged head of the association should also come from the federal state.
Karlsruhe/Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) - They are said to have planned a coup and in some cases also trained with weapons: The federal prosecutor's office had 25 people from the so-called Reich citizen scene arrested, including several people from Hesse. According to Hesse's Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU), the nationwide raid in the state saw arrests in the single digits. According to the current state of investigation, one person is the supposed head of the association, said Beuth on Wednesday in the Hessian state parliament in Wiesbaden. The man arrested during the raid has been known to the security authorities in Hesse for a long time and is assigned to the Reich citizen scene.
In Hesse, around 300 people took part in the nationwide measures, reported Beuth. The Attorney General is conducting the proceedings. The Federal Criminal Police Office coordinates the police measures. The measures were directed against a widely ramified and nationwide group, explained the Minister of the Interior. This is suspected of having formed a terrorist organization to overcome the state order in Germany.
According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, around 3,000 police officers were on duty in eleven federal states nationwide on Wednesday morning. The terrorist organization wanted to overthrow the state order in Germany and replace it with its own, which has already been worked out in outline, said a spokeswoman for the German Press Agency. She would have accepted death for that.
22 of those arrested are said to be members of this terrorist organization, two of them ringleaders. Three others are considered supporters. There are also 27 other suspects, said the spokeswoman. More than 130 objects were searched.
Reich citizens are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures. They often refuse to pay taxes. Often they are in conflict with authorities. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution ascribes around 21,000 followers to the scene.
