Reichsbürger Coup Plotters Sentenced to Prison in Germany

A German court has sentenced five members of an extremist group linked to the Reichsbürger movement to prison for plotting a coup and to kidnap the health minister.

The defendants, four men and a woman, were sentenced to between five years and nine months and eight years' jail by the Koblenz higher regional court.

The group, known as the "United Patriots," had planned to kidnap Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and kill his bodyguards. They also planned to sabotage the power grid in an operation they called "Silent Night."

The court heard that the plotters had joined forces by January 2022, planning to create conditions for civil war in Germany through violence and take over state power.

The men were arrested in April 2022 and the woman in October that year. The trial began in May 2023.

Last April, German prosecutors said they had charged a sixth suspect in the kidnap plot.

"The investigations into this terrorist group have revealed an abyss. The violent plans for a coup, for attacks on the electricity infrastructure, for the kidnapping of health minister Karl Lauterbach and for the killing of his bodyguards have shown an enormous threat."

She said security services took "threats posed by the Citizens of the Reich scene seriously and are acting accordingly. We are protecting our democracy.