High treason trial of nine accused of membership of paramilitary group planning violent coup begins in Stuttgart
One of nine suspected participants in a coup plot wears handcuffs as he is brought to the courtroom to take the stand in the first set of proceedings in Stuttgart, Germany, on Monday. Photograph: Bernd Weissbrod/AFP via Getty Images
Among the accused in Stuttgart on Monday: a former German soldier turned kitchen salesman and an electrical engineer turned “shamanic healer”. With an estimated 21,000-23,000 members in cells around the country, the Reichsbürger reject the modern German state and want a return to pre-1918 legal order of empire and monarchy.
In opening arguments, prosecutors said the nine Stuttgart defendants were involved in plot they knew would “involve violence” by cracking down on any resistance to the coup. One defendant, an agricultural machine salesman identified only as Markus H and known to others as “Cowboy”, offered to acquire a tank, writing variously: “We are going to war – WAAAAR” and “If I should die, then with a sword in my hand.”
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