Latest news with #UnitedPatriots
New York Times
07-03-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
German Court Convicts Five Over Plot to Kidnap Health Official and Spread Chaos
Five people have been sentenced to prison over what the authorities in Germany described as a plot to kidnap the country's health minister on live television in 2022 in an attempt to destabilize the German state. After a nearly two-year trial, a court found on Thursday that the five, under a group billed as the 'United Patriots,' had planned to create a widespread weekslong power outage and then use the chaos to reinstate a 19th-century Constitution ceding power to an all-powerful Kaiser. They were convicted of founding or joining a terrorist group, of treason and in some cases of owning illegal guns, rifles and explosives. Jörn Müller, a spokesman for the court, in Koblenz in western Germany, said the trial had 'shown that a democratic constitutional state is capable of dealing with its alleged opponents on the basis of law and order in a fair and independent trial.' The court sentenced a 46-year-old man whom it had determined to be the group's central figure to eight years in prison. A 77-year-old woman who holds a Ph.D in theology and frequently interrupted the court hearings with antisemitic and conspiracy-theory-laced diatribes was handed a sentence of seven years and nine months. Three other men, all in their 50s, received sentences ranging from six and a half years to two years and 10 months. In accordance with German privacy laws, the court identified the defendants only by their initials. The five were part of the Reichsbürger scene, a loosely affiliated antisemitic far-right grouping that does not accept the legitimacy of the modern German state. Their planned overthrow was not directly related to a far more complex, and far more dangerous, plot surrounding a disgruntled prince that is currently being tried in three separate courts in Germany. After meeting and radicalizing on a Telegram chat group during the pandemic, members of the plot tried to buy and hoard weapons and other tools for their plans, according to the case brought by the prosecutors. Police searches after their arrest in 2022 yielded 52 packets of low-grade explosives, with which the authorities said the group hoped to use to disable large parts of the power grid. Members of the group were arrested while trying to buy AK-47 assault rifles, mines and bulletproof vests. The seller was an undercover police officer and the exchange was a setup. The five convicted on Thursday had focused their ire on Germany's health minister, Karl Lauterbach, a medical doctor and former professor who has taught at the Harvard School of Public Health. During the pandemic, he was an outspoken proponent of vaccination rules, often appearing on television panel shows to explain the medical science behind the spread of the coronavirus. On Thursday, he thanked the German police for keeping him safe. 'The state has shown that it can defend itself against violent conspiracy theorists,' he said on social media.
Local Germany
07-03-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
Four jailed over plot to stage coup and kidnap German minister
The three men and one woman, members of the self-styled "United Patriots" group, were sentenced to between five years and nine months and eight years' jail by the Koblenz higher regional court. It was one of several trials targeting the wider far-right movement whose members adhere to conspiratorial narratives and reject the legitimacy of the modern German state. Together they had hatched a plan to kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, a figure of scorn for many opponents of Covid-era restrictions, and to kill his bodyguards if they deemed it necessary. After the verdict, Lauterbach of the centre-left Social Democrats thanked "the police and the judiciary for solving and punishing the planned crime". The court heard that the four had joined forces by January 2022 with a plan to trigger civil war-like conditions in Germany through violence with the aim of taking over state power. Their plan had included a sabotage attack to disable the power grid in an operation they dubbed "Silent Night". Their hope was that in the ensuing chaos they would be joined by disgruntled members of the security forces. The defendants were associated with the Citizens of the Reich (Reichsbürger in German) whose adherents hold that the German Empire, which collapsed in 1918, continues to exist. Several other cases have been launched by courts in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart, some leading to convictions, and others ongoing. The eclectic movement of malcontents and gun enthusiasts was headed by a minor aristocrat and businessman, Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss. The alleged putschists are said to have taken inspiration from the global QAnon movement. The Koblenz court also found two of the main defendants guilty of weapons offences and one of planning a serious act of violence endangering the state. The three men were arrested in April 2022 and the woman in October of that year. The trial began in May 2023. A fifth defendant was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for being a member of the terrorist group and for also planning high treason. The defendants and their lawyers stand up as the judge enters the courtroom in Koblenz on the day of sentening in the coup and kidnap trial. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Thomas Frey Last April, German prosecutors said they had charged a sixth suspect in the kidnap plot. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said "the investigations into this terrorist group have revealed an abyss. "The violent plans for a coup, for attacks on the electricity infrastructure, for the kidnapping of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and for the killing of his bodyguards have shown an enormous threat." She said security services "take the threats posed by the Citizens of the Reich scene seriously and are acting accordingly. We are protecting our democracy."
Telegraph
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Far-Right gang convicted over plot to overthrow German government
A far-Right extremist gang has been convicted in Germany over a plot to overthrow the government and kidnap the health minister. The five defendants were jailed on Thursday after being found guilty of high treason and belonging to a terrorist organisation. All five were found to be members of the United Patriots, part of the so-called Reichsbürger movement in Germany, which rejects the modern post-war state and wants to restore imperial rule under a kaiser. A court in Koblenz handed down prison sentences to the defendants, four men and one woman, ranging from two to eight years. The woman, 77, was a former teacher whom prosecutors regarded as the 'political mastermind' of the group. Prosecutors said the group wanted to create civil war-like conditions by blowing up power grids and causing blackouts. They then intended to kidnap Karl Lauterbach, the health minister, during a television chat show after 'eliminating' his bodyguards. Mr Lauterbach is a figure of scorn for some in Germany because of his support for strict anti-Covid restrictions during the pandemic. While the plot did not appear to have been close to fruition, prosecutors said the gang had obtained weapons and money, and were 'dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans'. The case was one of two high-profile Reichsbürger trials underway in Germany. The other involves an eccentric German aristocrat, Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, who is charged with being the figurehead of another plot to overthrow the government. Prince Reuss and his alleged co-conspirators are accused of planning to march into the German parliament with an armed group to arrest MPs on what they dubbed 'Day X'. Conspiracy theories Their apparent goal was to restore the German empire of 1871 to 1918, the creation of which was overseen by Otto von Bismarck, but later abolished in the aftermath of the First World War. German officials estimate there are about 21,000 followers of the Reichsbürger movement, though it is unclear how many of them are hardened coup-plotters, as opposed to harmless eccentrics. Prince Reuss is a former wine producer and property developer who enjoys reading about conspiracy theories. His lawyers have maintained that he is not violent and did not fully understand the implications of the plot. His trial continues.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Far-Right gang convicted over plot to overthrow German government
A far-Right extremist gang has been convicted in Germany over a plot to overthrow the government and kidnap the health minister. The five defendants were jailed on Thursday after being found guilty of high treason and belonging to a terrorist organisation. All five were found to be members of the United Patriots, part of the so-called Reichsbürger movement in Germany, which rejects the modern post-war state and wants to restore imperial rule under a kaiser. A court in Koblenz handed down prison sentences to the defendants, four men and one woman, ranging from two to eight years. The woman, 77, was a former teacher whom prosecutors regarded as the 'political mastermind' of the group. Prosecutors said the group wanted to create civil war-like conditions by blowing up power grids and causing blackouts. They then intended to kidnap Karl Lauterbach, the health minister, during a television chat show after 'eliminating' his bodyguards. Mr Lauterbach is a figure of scorn for some in Germany because of his support for strict anti-Covid restrictions during the pandemic. While the plot did not appear to have been close to fruition, prosecutors said the gang had obtained weapons and money, and were 'dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans'. The case was one of two high-profile Reichsbürger trials underway in Germany. The other involves an eccentric German aristocrat, Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, who is charged with being the figurehead of another plot to overthrow the government. Prince Reuss and his alleged co-conspirators are accused of planning to march into the German parliament with an armed group to arrest MPs on what they dubbed 'Day X'. Their apparent goal was to restore the German empire of 1871 to 1918, the creation of which was overseen by Otto von Bismarck, but later abolished in the aftermath of the First World War. German officials estimate there are about 21,000 followers of the Reichsbürger movement, though it is unclear how many of them are hardened coup-plotters, as opposed to harmless eccentrics. Prince Reuss is a former wine producer and property developer who enjoys reading about conspiracy theories. His lawyers have maintained that he is not violent and did not fully understand the implications of the plot. His trial continues. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Euronews
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Euronews
How do footballers adapt during the Holy month of Ramadan?
The defendants had planned to use bombs to cause nationwide blackouts and kidnap former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, prosecutors said. ADVERTISEMENT A German court has jailed five people for plotting to overthrow the country's government in a far-right coup. The defendants also planned to kidnap a former German health minister. The defendants were convicted of founding or being a member of a terrorist organisation called "Vereinte Patrioten" (United Patriots) and of preparing treasonous acts against the German government involving explosives and attacks on the country's power grid. On Thursday, Koblenz Higher Regional Court sentenced the ringleaders — four men aged between 46 and 58 — to prison terms ranging from five years and nine months to eight years. The fifth defendant — a 77-year-old woman — received a jail term of two years and ten months. Their names were not released for privacy reasons. The sentences mark the end of a trial which began in May 2023. Federal prosecutors said during the trial that the defendants had ties to the Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) movement that rejects the legitimacy of Germany's postwar constitution. Prosecutors said the group planned to create "conditions similar to civil war" by using bombs to cause nationwide blackouts and by kidnapping former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, who was an advocate of strict coronavirus measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. There were no indications that the defendants were actually close to launching a coup, but prosecutors said the group's procurement of weapons and money showed they were "dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans". In a separate case, 25 people were arrested in December 2022 for planning to topple the government as part of a domestic terrorist organisation. Among the plotters was a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Berlin has warned for years of the growing threat posed by far-right extremists and has repeatedly cracked down on such groups.
