Germany: Police find weapons in right-wing raid
September 10, 2021
German police carried out raids on the homes of nine suspected right-wing extremists on Thursday, the public prosecutor's office in Lüneberg confirmed.
Six of the suspects were allegedly in the reserve forces of the German military, the Bundeswehr. Prosecutors in Lüneberg, which has a special remit to investigate "the formation of criminal organizations", said that all the suspects were between the ages of 37 and 53.
Some 200 police officers took part in the raids, searching locations in the states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Berlin.
What happens next?
Authorities confiscated "pieces of evidence", which prosecutors will now use to determine what crimes have been committed and what, if any, charges to bring. Among the confiscated items were weapons and munitions, officials said.
If any of the suspects are charged and convicted of forming an authorized armed organization, they face up to two years in prison.
Cases of right-wing extremism have been on the rise in Germany in recent years, especially among members of the armed forces. Police from Frankfurt am Main disbanded the city's Special Task Force (SEK) following the discovery of far-right extremist messages in group chats in June.
tg,es/msh (dpa, AFP)