Germany arrests eight members of far-right group
Published: 04:11 PM,Nov 05,2024 | EDITED : 08:11 PM,Nov 05,2024
Masked police officers guard a house after having arrested suspects, in Dresden, Germany. — Reuters
BERLIN: German police on Tuesday arrested eight suspected members of a right-wing extremist group that had trained for what they expected would be the collapse of state order, prosecutors said. Hundreds of police in pre-dawn raids swooped on 20 locations linked to the militant group 'Saxonian Separatists' in formerly communist eastern Germany and neighbouring Poland, with locations also searched in Austria.
Federal prosecutors said the operation targeted 'a militant group of 15 to 20 individuals whose ideology is characterised by racist and partially apocalyptic ideas'. The prosecutors said the group's members, mostly young men, strongly rejected Germany's liberal democratic order and believed the government was nearing 'collapse' on an unspecified 'Day X'. In anticipation of that day, the militants had planned to take control of parts of their state of Saxony and potentially other east German regions. Their plan was 'to establish governmental and societal structures' that would have sought to target 'unwanted groups of people'. — AFP
Federal prosecutors said the operation targeted 'a militant group of 15 to 20 individuals whose ideology is characterised by racist and partially apocalyptic ideas'. The prosecutors said the group's members, mostly young men, strongly rejected Germany's liberal democratic order and believed the government was nearing 'collapse' on an unspecified 'Day X'. In anticipation of that day, the militants had planned to take control of parts of their state of Saxony and potentially other east German regions. Their plan was 'to establish governmental and societal structures' that would have sought to target 'unwanted groups of people'. — AFP