Germany’s public prosecutor’s office on Friday asked Italian and Austrian authorities to extradite two extremists allegedly linked to the far-right ‘Rechsbürger’ (Reich Citizens) group, which planned to carry out a coup d’état.
However, it is not known at the moment when these two suspects will be able to appear before the investigating judges of the case at the Federal Supreme Court in Karlsruhe, in the southwest of the country.
The decision comes two days after the Public Prosecutor’s Office itself detailed that the 25 arrested during a series of raids carried out by the Police in eleven federal states were members and followers of a «terrorist organization» seeking to overthrow the German Government.
Of those arrested, 22 are accused of belonging to a terrorist organization that wanted to overthrow the political system. The other three face aiding and abetting charges. All are German nationals except for one Russian national.
The Prosecutor’s Office warned Wednesday that «the members of the association are aware that this project can only be achieved through military and violent means against state representatives, which includes committing homicides» and noted that the defendants are «united by a profound rejection of state institutions and the free democratic order in Germany.»
He further identified the alleged ringleaders as ‘Rudiger’ and ‘Prince Henrich XIII’. The latter is the great-great-grandson of Wilhelm II of Germany, the last German emperor and king of Prussia, who was forced to abdicate in 1918 following World War I.
