A far-right takeover of the German government, including the kidnapping of the health minister, is allegedly being planned by five persons.
Today’s trial will feature four men and a woman who are charged with treason and joining or establishing a terrorist organisation.
The group, according to the prosecution, is connected to the Reich Citizens movement, which is said to be comparable to the Sovereign Citizens and QAnon movements in the United States.
The four men, who range in age from 44 to 56, and the 75-year-old woman, are accused of wanting to foster “conditions resembling civil war.”
They planned to use bombs to cause nationwide blackouts before kidnapping health minister Karl Lauterbach, who backed the country’s strict anti-Covid measures, it’s claimed.
There’s no indication the group, which went by the name United Patriots, was close to launching the alleged coup.
Despite this prosecutors say the group’s procurement of weapons and cash show its members are ‘dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans’.
The four men were arrested last April and 22 firearms, including a Kalashnikov rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, as well as cash, gold and silver, were seized.
The woman was arrested six months later and she’s accused of drafting documents for the group, including a fake arrest warrant for Mr Lauterbach.
The names of the five suspects have not been released for privacy reasons.
She also wrote letters to Vladimir Putin and Polish president Andrzej Duda, prosecutors said.
Ahead of the trial Mr Lauterbach told Der Spiegel he hopes for a ‘hard, fair verdict’ that will deter others from similar plots.