2023-11-23 14:42:42
Some 280 agents searched several properties in eight German states this Thursday, as part of investigations into the extremist group Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich).
According to the DPA news agency, the movement would be suspected of forming a criminal organization. According to the AFP news agency, computers, phones and data cards were seized in the searches carried out in 20 apartments.
Reichsbürger is a diffuse group of people living in Germany who do not recognize the authority of the current system of government and reject its democratic and constitutional structures, such as Parliament and the courts.
German police have carried out several raids on the homes and offices of suspected members of the movement in recent months. In October, it searched the residences of members allegedly linked to a group calling itself “United Patriots,” which is said to have planned a coup d’état and a new constitution based on the 1871 German empire.
Five alleged members of United Patriots are already on trial. The Higher Regional Court in Koblenz also accused them of trying to kill Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, whom they reject over restrictions the government imposed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, Germany’s intelligence agency estimated that there were about 23,000 members of the Reichsbürger and the “autonomous” scene in general, 2,000 more than the previous year.
In addition to not recognizing the legitimacy of the German state, Reichsbürger members often refuse to pay taxes or fines and in some cases accumulate illegal weapons.
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