German courts will try the first nine members of an extremist group suspected of plotting a coup to overthrow the country's democratic government, Reuters reported on April 29.
This will be only the first in a series of three proceedings with 27 members of the Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich) group, whose alleged plans were thwarted by German authorities in late 2022.
The far-right organization allegedly sought to return to the system reminiscent of the pre-World War I imperial Germany and install aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss as the head of state. Its ranks also included former members of the country's Armed Forces.
Following the coup, the group planned to establish an interim government and begin negotiating with countries that won in World War II, namely Russia, according to the investigation.
The suspected plotters even allegedly contacted Russian consulates in the German cities of Leipzig, Frankfurt, and Baden-Baden.
"It has not yet been possible to clarify how the Russian Federation reacted to the request," German prosecutors said.
The group's ideology has been described as similar to QAnon, a far-right U.S. conspiratorial movement. Its members were supposedly convinced that Germany was ruled by members of the so-called "deep state."
The organization collected around 500,000 euros (roughly $536,000) and purchased weapons and ammunition, investigators said.
Kateryna Denisova
