German lawmakers seek answers over alleged far-right plot

German lawmakers say they are digging deeper into an alleged coup plot that was revealed last week when police detained dozens of people linked to the far-right Reich Citizens movement.

Prosecutors said the 24 Germans and one Russian detained last Wednesday were suspected of being or supporting members of a “terrorist group” planning to overthrow the government.

The suspects planned to create 280 armed forces across Germany that would be tasked with “arresting and executing” people after a coup, according to a briefing to lawmakers cited by German news agency dpa.

“There are clearly some plans that are appalling based on the scale of their intentions against our liberal democracy,” Green Party lawmaker Konstantin von Notz said.

“The evidence collected now needs to be carefully reviewed,” he said after meeting with federal prosecutors.

“But what is known today is that the Attorney General has raised these significant events in the Legal Affairs Committee today and they are extremely disturbing.”

Prosecutors briefed lawmakers on a raft of “nondisclosure agreements” for people the alleged masterminds were trying to recruit, according to the dpa agency.

Investigators also reported finding more than 400,000 euros (£343,000) in cash, gold and silver coins, satellite phones and even evidence of safes filled with gold bars, Left Party MP Clara Boenger told dpa.

“Many questions have been answered, but many questions remain unresolved,” Mr von Notz told reporters after a closed meeting of parliament’s intelligence oversight committee.

He and other lawmakers compared the incident to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Prosecutors said some of those detained last week planned to enter the German parliament or Bundestag with weapons.

“In recent years, we have seen time and time again that the parliament building has become a welcome target for far-right extremists, conspiracy theorists and their friends,” said Konstantin Kuhle, a member of the Liberal Democrats.

“The Bundestag is the most visited parliament in the world,” he said.

“We cannot do our job as representatives if we have to isolate ourselves.”

Mr Cooler warned that far-right extremists were increasingly building networks reaching into what he called “the middle layers of society”, including soldiers and police.

One of the detainees was Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a judge and former lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Germany’s top security official, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, has suggested tightening rules for civil servants suspected of supporting anti-government movements such as Reich Citizens.

Uli Groetsch, a member of Faeser’s Social Democrats, said the so-called coup plans also showed the need to scrutinize the AfD more closely.

“We cannot accept that there is a political party in this country that, as it appears now, is the direct source of the coup attempt,” he said.