More than 450 police and special forces officers took part in the international raid in the early hours of Tuesday, November 5. The action was preceded by a months-long investigation against a suspected right-wing extremist group that calls itself "Saxon separatists".
In a press release, the Office German the prosecutor in Karlsruhe justifies the arrest by stating that 15 to 20 members of the group are dangerous. As they state, that militant group was preparing for the alleged "Day" of establishing the state and society in accordance with National Socialism. Terrorist the group, they say, also planned to "remove undesirable groups of people from the area through ethnic cleansing, if necessary," it says Mother said.
According to the security services, the ideology of the alleged members is characterized by "racist, anti-Semitic and partially apocalyptic ideas."
Training in combat equipment for guerrilla warfare
Since its establishment in November 2020, the association has allegedly been preparing for a "system collapse", including paramilitary training with combat equipment. According to the prosecutor's office in Germany, "guerrilla warfare, the use of firearms, night and forced marches and patrols were especially practiced." According to the prosecution, the group also acquired military equipment such as camouflage suits, combat helmets, gas masks and bulletproof vests.
German Interior Minister Nancy Fesser wrote on the Internet platform X that the arrests were the success of a timely investigation by Germany's secret service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution: "How dangerous these right-wing extremists are is shown by the fact that they are trained in handling weapons and have acquired military equipment Fezer stated.
According to research by several German media, at least three of those arrested are allegedly linked to An alternative for Germany, AfD. One of them is a local politician from Saxony, Kurt H, who is a member of the Grimm city council and the party's district executive committee.
"Spiegel" reports that after the arrest of that politician, there was a shooting. According to the magazine, Kurt H. reached for a weapon. However, it is not clear what exactly happened. The AfD politician was taken to hospital. Apparently, his life is not in danger.
It is clear that he has attracted attention in the past due to his proximity to right-wing extremist networks: according to an investigation by the public service ARD, he allegedly participated in the so-called solstice festival in 2024, when the notorious SS from the time of the National Socialist dictatorship under Adolf Hitler was also honored. Allegedly, people close to AfD's top politicians, Björn Hecke and Maximilian Krach, were also at the festival.
AfD politicians in the focus of the judiciary
AfD politicians are extremely often in the focus of the German judiciary and security authorities: in Frankfurt am Main, the trial of a group of so-called "Citizens of the Reich" who are alleged to have planned the coup d'état. Former member of the AfD in the Bundestag, Birgit Malzak-Winkelmann, is on trial because she was allegedly a supporter of that association. That former judge is currently in custody.
AfD member of the Bavarian parliament, Daniel Halemba, is currently under investigation for incitement to rebellion and suspicion of money laundering, as well as other offenses.
And in 2024, the chairman of the board of the AfD in the province of Thuringia, Björn Hecke, one of the most influential politicians of the party, was twice sentenced to heavy fines, because in his speeches during the election campaign he used the SA slogan from the time of the National Socialist dictatorship.
The current arrest of an AfD politician from Saxony comes at a time when Germany is discussing a possible ban on the AfD. Numerous members of the Bundestag from various parties are currently preparing a corresponding request for a possible ban procedure before the Federal Constitutional Court.
