Nine defendants, including Prince Henry XIII Reuss, go on trial in Frankfurt for “traitor” 2022 coup plot.
A prince, a former deputy and former army officers are among nine defendants who have gone on trial in Germany, accused of masterminding a plot fueled by a conspiracy theory to attack the German parliament and overthrow the government.
In one of the biggest cases heard by German courts in decades, prosecutors accuse the group of preparing a “treasonous compromise” to storm the Bundestag and take MPs hostage.
Tuesday's trial at the Frankfurt regional court is the second of three trials against defendants linked to the 2022 coup plot.
Eight alleged members of the coup plot took the stand in Frankfurt, as did a woman accused of supporting their efforts to overthrow the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Prince Henry
'Conspiracy myths'
The sensational plan, thwarted by the authorities at the end of 2022, is the most notorious example of the growing threat of violence from marginal political sectors in Germany.
The alleged plotters are said to have drawn inspiration from “conspiracy myths,” including the global QAnon movement, and made “enemies lists.”
Also belonging to the German scene were Reichsbuerger (Citizens of the Reich), a group of extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.
According to prosecutors, the plotters believed Germany was ruled by a hidden “deep state” and were waiting for a signal from a fabricated international “Alliance” of governments to launch their coup.
The process of this complex case, in which a total of 26 people are being tried, is carried out in three different courts.
Previous trial
Nine members of the group's “military arm” went on trial in Stuttgart at the end of April, and a third set of proceedings is scheduled to begin in Munich in June.
The hearings are held under tight security and the trial in Frankfurt was held in a purpose-built multi-million euro facility.
Among those who will sit in the dock alongside Reuss are former soldiers Ruediger von Pescatore, Maximilian Eder and Peter Woerner, who are said to have founded the group in July 2021.
Also among those charged are several members of a “council” that would replace the government after the coup, according to prosecutors.
Judge and former deputy of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, is ready to take over the justice portfolio.
Their access to the parliament building had allegedly allowed the group to scout the location for their coup, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, Michael Fritsch, a former Hanover police officer, was reportedly in line to take over the Interior Ministry.
The ninth defendant is Reuss' partner, a Russian citizen identified as Vitalia B. She is accused of “complicity” in the alleged coup d'état and of putting him in contact with a contact at the Russian consulate in Leipzig.
Reuss and the group's other alleged ringleader, von Pescatore, also sought to meet with Russian officials in the Slovak capital, Bratislava, in February 2022, prosecutors said.
“How the Russian Federation responded remains unclear,” prosecutors said. Reuss was supposedly tasked with negotiating an agreement with Russia should the coup succeed.
