BERLIN, October 10. /TASS/. German police have conducted searches in six federal lands, arresting five more people suspected of plotting a coup and planning to kidnap German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach, Der Spiegel magazine reported.
According to the magazine, law enforcement agencies carried out raids against supporters of the radical terrorist group United Patriots. As a result, five suspects were arrested, including a 49-year-old resident of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, who allegedly sought to attack the country’s power supply facilities. Another 52-year-old man is said to have been studying the construction of high-voltage lines in Rheinland-Pfalz for the same purpose. Two other alleged perpetrators intended to kidnap Health Minister Lauterbach, for which they wanted to purchase weapons in Croatia.
A trial against five other defendants charged with plotting a coup to overthrow the federal government and set up a new form of governance began in Koblenz in May. According to the investigation, the group - four men and a woman - planned to damage power supply facilities to cause a nationwide blackout, kidnap Minister Lauterbach and convene a constitutional assembly in Berlin. They aimed to restore the country to a system of government modeled on the German Empire, trying to stir up support on social media. The six-month investigation culminated in the arrests of the suspects in April 2022, when one of them attempted to buy a gun from an undercover law enforcement officer in Rheinland-Pfalz.