German soldier held over anti-migrant 'assassination plot'

Image copyright EPA Image caption Last week German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (C) toured the barracks in France where the two arrested men were stationed together

German authorities have made another arrest linked to an alleged plot to murder a senior public figure.

The man, a soldier, is accused of conspiring with another army officer who had falsely registered as a Syrian refugee, and a student.

The suspected right-wing extremists wanted to frame refugees for the attack, say prosecutors.

Their alleged targets included former German president Joachim Gauck and Justice Minister Heiko Maas.

The affair has sparked a national debate about right-wing extremism in Germany's armed forces.

On Sunday, inspections were ordered at every army barracks after Nazi-era memorabilia were found at two of them.

But last week German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen provoked anger after using the alleged plot to accuse the army of an attitude problem.

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On Tuesday, German police detained 27-year-old "Maximilian T" in Kehl, across the Rhine river from the French city of Strasbourg.

"The accused is strongly suspected of planning a severe act of violence against the state out of a right-wing extremist conviction," the prosecutor's office said in a statement.

The man was stationed at a barracks in France, alongside another man who was arrested in April, 28-year-old "Franco A".

He was arrested in April, after police discovered he had registered as a Syrian refugee at a shelter in central Germany in December 2015 and later officially requested political asylum in Bavaria.

A student, 24, named as "Mathias F" has also been arrested.

The three "planned an attack against a high-ranking politician or public figure who was supportive of what the accused saw as the failed immigration and refugee affairs policies", prosecutors said.

They had drawn up a hit list and acquired a pistol for Franco A to carry out the attack, they said. Maximilian covered up his accomplice's absences from barracks in pursuit of the plot, prosecutors suspect.

The country has experienced a backlash against Chancellor Angela Merkel's "open-door" policy which saw Germany take in more than one million asylum seekers in 2015.

graebot on May 9th, 2017 at 20:54 UTC »

"We hate terrorists so much that we're going to commit terror and say it was them."

Thaddel on May 9th, 2017 at 18:12 UTC »

If anyone's curious what the BBC likely based this report on, here's the press release by the Federal Public Prosecutor General's Office (GBA), translated by myself:

Arrest on grounds of suspicion of Preparation of a Serious Violent Offence Endangering the State

The GBA today, on the basis of an arrest warrant of the Invesitgative Judge of the Federal Court of Justice from 8th May 2017,

ordered the arrest of the 27-year-old German citizen Maximilian T.

the order was executed in Kehl by officers of the Federal Criminal Police Office.

The defendant is strongly suspected of preparing a serious violent offence endangering the state (§ 89 a Abs. 1 und Abs. 2 Nr. 2, § 25 Abs. 2 StGB) out of a right-wing extremist ideology and together with the already-arrested Franco A. and Mathias F.

The press office of the GBA will release an explanation to the media today at 14:30.

The arrest warrant lays out the following:

According to investigations, Franco A., Mathias F., and Maximilan T. planned an attack on the life of high-ranking politicians and persons of public interest that are active in a, from the defendant's POVs, failed/wrong immigration and asylum policy. In particular, the defendants had created a list of possible victims including different categories. Among others it includes former President Joachim Gauck and Minister of Justice and Consumer Protection Heiko Maas. Franco A. was tasked with acting out the attack. For this purpose, he had registered as a Syrian refugee under an alias. Thus, the three defendants wanted to direct suspicion on refugee-applicants in Germany. During the planning, Franco A. received monetary assitance for asylum applicants, which he collected himself. The resulting abstences were covered up by Maximilian T., who excused Franco A. before his superiors. In preparation of the attack, the defendants aquired a pistol by the manufacturer Manufacture d’Armes des Pyrenees Francaise, Model 17, Caliber 7,65 mm Browning, which they first stowed away. In the middle of January, Franco A. took the weapon and stowed it in a disabled people's toilet at the Vienna Airport where it was found by Austrian Police shortly after. During investigation, Franco A. and Mathias F. were ordered to be arrested by the Frankfurt State Attorney on 26th April 2017. The investigation has since been taken over by the GBA.

The attack by the three defendants was supposed to be viewed by the public as a radical-islamic terror act done by an accepted refugee. Especially concerning the continued public discussion of immigration and asylum politics a suspected terror attack by a registered refugee would have created special outrage and contributed to a general feeling of threat. Recognising this, this case is to be viewed as a crime pertaining to State Security of special importance (§ 120 Abs. 2 Nr. 1, § 74 a Abs. 1 Nr. 2, Abs. 2 GVG)

The defendant will today be brought before the Investigative Judge of the Federal Court of Justice who will explain to him the arrest warrant and decide over a possible investigative custody.

0ne_Word on May 9th, 2017 at 14:03 UTC »

They're trying real hard to recreate the "Reichstag Fire" aren't they?