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CRIME

Crimes by migrants drop 20 percent in three months

The number of crimes committed by refugees or migrants dropped by more than 18 percent between January and March, according to a new police report.

Crimes by migrants drop 20 percent in three months
Photo: DPA.

For the first time, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) released on Tuesday a report focused on how the large numbers of refugees and undocumented immigrants in Germany have impacted crime, recording data for the first three months of the year.

The number of crimes committed by refugees or migrants fell between January and March by more than 18 percent, according to the report.

The biggest drop-offs were in the number of property or forgery offences, thefts and crimes against sexual self-determination, which includes rape.

Thefts were the most common type of crime committed by migrants at 29 percent of the total, followed by property and forgery crimes (28 percent), and at 23 percent, bodily harm or crimes against another person’s personal freedom.

Sexual offences made up 1.1 percent of crimes.

The BKA report showed that a disproportionate number of offenders came from Algeria, Morocco, Georgia, Serbia or Tunisia.

And while Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis make up the majority of refugees in Germany, they are underrepresented in crime statistics.

Fears about the estimated one million refugees who fled into Germany last year creating an uptick in crime rose in the wake of the numerous sexual assaults committed in cities like Cologne on New Year's Eve.

Many women reported after the attacks that the men who assaulted them appeared to be of north African origin.

A spokesperson for the Interior Ministry told DPA on Wednesday that the report shows that migrants are “no more criminal than Germans.”

“This helps to keep the conversation objective,” he added.

The total number of crimes or attempted crimes that were committed by migrants so far this year reached 69,000 between January and March.

But the report emphasizes that “the vast majority of immigrants did not commit any crime”.

Crimes at refugee centres decreased by about ten percent during this time, and were mostly bodily harm offences, or crimes against someone’s personal freedom.

In cases of crimes against life – which made up 0.15 percent of all offences and includes murder or negligent homicide – in half of the cases the perpetrator and victim were the same nationality.

The report also documented crimes against migrants, and found that there had been a decrease in such offences of seven percent.

A troubling observation in the report was that the “evidence of connections to terrorist organizations increased”.

One ongoing investigation is related to a plot to bomb Düsseldorf. 

A Syrian man suspected of aiding the plot reportedly told authorities that he was working with a sleeper cell hiding among refugees at a camp in the Netherlands.

The numbers of refugees arriving in Germany has sunk in recent months, though a report by German media on Tuesday also said half a million more refugees could ultimately come to join family members with asylum status in Germany.

CRIME

Nine face trial in Germany for alleged far-right coup plot

The first members of a far-right group that allegedly plotted to attack the German parliament and overthrow the government will go on trial in Stuttgart on Monday.

Nine face trial in Germany for alleged far-right coup plot

Nine suspected participants in the coup plot will take the stand in the first set of proceedings to open in the sprawling court case, split among three courts in three cities.

The suspects are accused of having participated in the “military arm” of the organisation led by the minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss.

The alleged plot is the most high-profile recent case of far-right violence, which officials say has grown to become the biggest extremist threat in Germany.

The organisation led by Reuss was an eclectic mix of characters and included, among others, a former special forces soldier, a former far-right MP, an astrologer, and a well-known chef.

Reuss, along with other suspected senior members of the group, will face trial in the second of the three cases, in Frankfurt in late May.

The group aimed to install him as head of state after its planned takeover.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022.

Heinrich XIII arrested at his home following a raid in 2022. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Boris Roessler

The alleged plotters espoused a mix of “conspiracy myths” drawn from the global QAnon movement and the German Reichsbûrger (Citizens of the Reich) scene, according to prosecutors.

The Reichsbürger movement includes right-wing extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.

Its followers generally believe in the continued existence of the pre-World War I German Reich, or empire, under a monarchy, and several groups have declared their own states.

Such Reichsbürger groups were driven by “hatred of our democracy”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in Berlin on Sunday.

“We will continue our tough approach until we have fully exposed and dismantled militant ‘Reichsbürger’ structures,” she added.

READ ALSO: Who was involved in the alleged plot to overthrow German democracy?

‘Treasonous undertaking’

According to investigators, Reuss’s group shared a belief that Germany was run by members of a “deep state” and that the country could be liberated with the help of a secret international alliance.

The nine men to stand trial in Stuttgart are accused by prosecutors of preparing a “treasonous undertaking” as part of the Reichsbürger plot.

As part of the group, they are alleged to have aimed to “forcibly eliminate the existing state order” and replace it with their own institutions.

The members of the military arm were tasked with establishing, supplying and recruiting new members for “territorial defence companies”, according to prosecutors.

Among the accused are a special forces soldier, identified only as Andreas M. in line with privacy laws, who is said to have used his access to scout out army barracks.

Others were allegedly responsible for the group’s IT systems or were tasked with liaising with the fictitious underground “alliance”, which they thought would rally to the plotters’ aid when the coup was launched.

The nine include Alexander Q., who is accused by federal prosecutors of acting as the group’s propagandist, spreading conspiracy theories via the Telegram messaging app.

Two of the defendants, Markus L. and Ralf S., are accused of weapons offences in addition to the charge of treason.

Markus L. is also accused of attempted murder for allegedly turning an assault rifle on police and injuring two officers during a raid at his address in March 2023.

Police swooped in to arrest most of the group in raids across Germany in December 2022 and the charges were brought at the end of last year.

Three-part trial 

Proceedings in Stuttgart are set to continue until early 2025.

In all, 26 people are accused in the huge case against the extremist network, with trials also set to open in Munich and Frankfurt.

Reuss will stand trial in Frankfurt from May 21st, alongside another ringleader, an ex-army officer identified as Ruediger v.P., and a former MP for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann.

The Reichsbürger group had allegedly organised a “council” to take charge after their planned putsch, with officials warning preparations were at an advanced stage.

The alleged plotters had resources amounting to 500,000 euros ($536,000) and a “massive arsenal of weapons”, according to federal prosecutors.

Long dismissed as malcontents and oddballs, believers in Reichsbuerger-type conspiracies have become increasingly radicalised in recent years and are seen as a growing security threat.

Earlier this month, police charged a new suspect in relation to another coup plot.

The plotters, frustrated with pandemic-era restrictions, planned to kidnap the German health minister, according to investigators.

Five other suspected co-conspirators in that plot went on trial in Koblenz last May.

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