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CRIME

Sauerland cell terrorist suspect writing memoirs in jail

Adem Yilmaz, a member of the so-called Sauerland Cell on trial for planning terror attacks in Germany, is writing his memoirs in jail, news magazine Der Spiegel reports in the latest issue of the magazine.

Sauerland cell terrorist suspect writing memoirs in jail
Photo: DPA

The 30-year-old has already filled 50 pages by hand, the magazine reported.

Yilmaz, a Turkish national, suggested writing a book together with co-defendant, Daniel Schneider, a German convert to Islam. The two are currently on trial in Düsseldorf with two other suspects, Fritz Gelowicz and Attila Selek for allegedly planning to car-bomb US facilities in Germany and nightclubs popular with Americans.

Prosecutors say the group are Islamic radicals who were inspired by the September 11th, 2001 terror attacks against the US.

Schneider reportedly approves of the memoir idea, writing in a note to Yilmaz seen by Der Spiegel that there are things about the attempted bombing plot that need to be “clarified.”

One possible problem with a memoir, Schneider pointed out, is that three of the four suspects on trial have had their assets frozen as international terrorism suspects, which could also put a book deal on ice.

“The contract has to be done by someone else, who has to control everything, including the money,” Schneider wrote. “The trial has already cost the state €500,000 and if they get the sense that any of us has any money, then they’ll also take it from us.”

Authorities believe the men planned bombings between early September 2007 and mid-October 2007, when the German parliament was to vote to extend participation in the NATO peacekeeping force in Afghanistan. They were arrested in September 2007.

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CRIME

Germany charges sixth suspect in health minister kidnap plot

German prosecutors said Wednesday they had charged a sixth suspect in a far-right plot to kidnap the health minister and overthrow the government in protest against Covid-19 restrictions.

Germany charges sixth suspect in health minister kidnap plot

The 61-year-old man was charged with “the preparation of a treasonous enterprise and membership in a terrorist organisation”, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement.

The group intended to strike several parts of the energy grid to provoke a “nationwide power outage lasting several weeks” that would provide cover for a coup attempt, investigators said.

The alleged plotters planned to abduct Health Minister Karl Lauterbach “at gunpoint”, potentially killing his bodyguards in the process.

During the coronavirus pandemic, some of the fiercest opponents of the government’s anti-virus measures were far-right activists who reject Germany’s democratic institutions.

Lauterbach had become a hate figure for the group because of the pandemic restrictions including the requirement to wear facemasks in public places that he had ordered.

“The kidnapping of a high-ranking federal government official was intended to demonstrate the group’s determination and capabilities,” prosecutors said.

The latest suspect was said to have “participated in meetings of the group and worked on the concretisation of the plans”.

The man allegedly declared himself ready to participate in the kidnapping of Lauterbach, prosecutors said.

He also offered his garage in the region south of Frankfurt to a group ringleaders as a weapons store, investigators said.

The senior plotter was arrested in April 2022 and the arms – two AK-47 assault rifles and four Glock pistols – were never deposited.

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The new suspect also offered to “sail” to Russia after the planned coup “as a member of a delegation to negotiate an ‘alliance’ with Russian state authorities and to procure military equipment”, prosecutors said.

Five other members of the group went on trial in Koblenz in May 2023.

The group intended to replace the government with an authoritarian system “modelled on the constitution of the German Empire of 1871”, according to investigators.

The belief that the German government is illegitimate is current among members of the far-right Reichsbürger (Citizens of the Reich) movement, which has attracted a growing number of followers.

The organisers of another alleged far-right plot to topple the government were arrested in raids at the end of 2022.

The trial of the suspected ringleader, the aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, will open in Frankfurt in May.

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