By dpa correspondents l Wednesday, March 22, 2023
BERLIN – Police carried out follow-up raids in Germany and Switzerland on Wednesday in connection with a long-running investigation into the far-right Reichsbürger (Reich Citizens) movement.
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, there are now five more suspects in the broader investigation into the anti-government group.
More than 20 properties were searched in eight German states, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann said.
An officer from a special task force was slightly injured in a shooting incident in the south-western city of Reutlingen in the state of Baden-Württemberg, prosecutors said. One suspect was arrested.
According to dpa information, the shooter is a marksman and had a weapons permit.
“This shows how dangerous the operations are. The weapons authorities are obliged to disarm Reich citizens,” Buschmann wrote on Twitter.
In Switzerland, criminal proceedings were opened against two people suspected of supporting or participating in a criminal or terrorist organization, the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland announced in Bern.
“The clarification of the alleged roles and intentions of the accused persons are the subject of ongoing investigations,” the office said.
The searches are a follow-up to the large-scale raids against the Reich Citizens movement in several federal states, Austria and Italy last December.
At the time, 25 people were arrested. Prosecutors were also investigating 30 other people and did not rule out that more suspects would be added in the course of investigation.
The group is accused of seeking to build up its own armed forces to overthrow the state. A former lawmaker, a soldier and an aristocrat were among those detained on suspicion of being part of the group.
Reich Citizens do not recognize the legitimacy of the German state. They often refuse to pay taxes or fines and in some cases amass illegal weapons.
