Four leaders of the planned coup and the plot to kidnap ministers were sentenced to several years in prison in Germany, one of the high-profile treason trials that shocked the country.
A fifth defendant was sentenced to two years and 10 months in the western city of Koblenz after the trial began on May 17, 2023.
The group is accused of forming or becoming a member of a terrorist group called the United Patriots and preparing to commit treason against the government, including the kidnapping of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
Lauterbach was highly regarded in the cabinet when he was arrested in the spring of 2022 and was the government’s policy leader in curbing the coronavirus epidemic.
Four leaders were sentenced to five years, nine months to eight years in prison.
One of them is a former teacher who is accused of being the “political planner” of the organization. During the litigation, she often expressed conspiracy theories from the so-called Imperial Citizen Movement, which did not recognize the authority of the German state.
To overthrow the democratic order
According to the indictment, the group wanted to put Germany in chaos.
Their plan is to use bomb attacks to weaken the country’s electricity supply, kidnap Lauterbach from talk shows and “take” his bodyguards.
According to the indictment, they wanted to overthrow the government and appoint new leaders in the Constitutional Assembly and reintroduce the Imperial Constitution of 1871.
An actor will appear on TV as a federal president or prime minister and announces the firing of the federal government.
Court documents show that secret investigators who provide the sale of weapons played an important role in the defendant’s arrest.
A total of 38 witnesses testified at the trial.
Kobrentz’s trial leads to Prince Ruth’s case
The lawsuit against two supporters of the group is still in the Superior District Court in Cobrentz. Another man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison by a Frankfurt court in November 2024.
The investigation of the United Patriots is the starting point for another sensational criminal conspiracy, surrounding Prince Ruth.
The leader of the group was allegedly arrested in December 2022. They are said to have planned to overthrow Germany’s political system and install a new government by force.
Prosecutors in the Frankfurt court claimed that the group’s paramilitary department was intended to raid parliament, arrest politicians, and eventually tout Reuss as Germany’s new leader.
The defendant Sven Birkmann (R), who is allegedly a member of the terrorist group “Manchester United Patriots”, sat in the court next to his lawyer Philipp Grassl. The court in the western city of Koblenz announced Thursday that four planned coups and plots to kidnap German health minister Karl Lauterbach were sentenced to several years in prison. Thomas Frey/DPA
