In the last week of the year, the Bundestag is dealing with the coup plans of an association from the “Reichsbürger” scene. The arrest of 25 people suspected of being terrorists, including former officers and police officers as well as a former AfD member of the Bundestag, will be an issue in several committees and possibly also in the plenary session of parliament.
Today, both the Judiciary Committee and the Home Affairs Committee will each meet for a special session. MPs also want to ask questions about the case in the secret parliamentary control committee. The chairwoman of the defense committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, had also announced that she would put the topic on the agenda for the upcoming meeting in order to find out details from the military counter-intelligence service MAD.
Left requests government statement
The Greens are also pushing for the group’s plans, which have now been uncovered, to be discussed in a topical session in the plenary session of the Bundestag. Left parliamentary group manager Jan Korte had requested a government statement from Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) on the arrests for his parliamentary group on Thursday.
The Union faction had requested the special sessions of the interior and legal committee. The traffic light coalition initially argued against this. The reason given was that the police and investigative authorities should be given enough time to work through the facts. Minister Faeser also announced that she would be attending the next regular meeting of the Interior Committee on Wednesday.
The special session was later approved by Bundestag President Bärbel Bas. Among other things, the Union wants to know whether the suspects might have been warned so that they could possibly get rid of weapons and other evidence before the raid.
23 suspects in custody
Federal prosecutors arrested 25 people on Wednesday, including former officers and police officers. She accuses 22 of those arrested of being a member of a terrorist organization that wanted to overthrow the political system. Three arrested are considered supporters.
The 23 suspects arrested in Germany are in custody. The federal prosecutor also spoke of 27 other suspects. “Reich citizens” are people who do not recognize the Federal Republic and its democratic structures.
Faeser told the arrested group the danger was “very serious” and real. There were very precise plans for a coup and also a military arm, said the SPD politician on Sunday evening on the ARD program “Anne Will”. The North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of the Interior, Herbert Reul (CDU), also said on the show that it was “more than crazy things,” but clear and far-reaching plans by people with weapons.
Faeser wants to tighten gun laws
On ARD, Faeser defended her plan to change disciplinary law in order to get rid of enemies of the constitution in security agencies more quickly. Administrative court proceedings should no longer be necessary for this, but administrative acts should suffice. “We simply have to get faster there,” said the minister. Faeser also wants to “further tighten gun laws shortly”, as she told the “Bild am Sonntag”.
The federal cabinet wants to deal with a democracy promotion law on Wednesday, as Family Minister Lisa Paus announced. “With the law, we want to strengthen the backs of people who oppose anti-democratic and misanthropic currents and work for an unprejudiced, open cooperation,” said the Green politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group.
In essence, it is intended to provide a better financial basis for clubs and organizations that are active in promoting democracy and preventing extremism.
