According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary has dismantled a suspected right-wing extremist terrorist cell. Five suspects were arrested in several raids on Wednesday morning. The group is said to have planned attacks against refugees and political dissidents and has attempted to carry out these plans several times.
Age of those arrested “particularly shocking”
Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig described it as “particularly shocking” that all those arrested today were allegedly minors when the terrorist group was founded. According to the Karlsruhe authorities, those arrested are said to be between 14 and 18 years old.
It is also the task of politicians to counteract the radicalization of young people in particular, the minister emphasized.
Arrests and searches in several federal states
According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the arrests were made in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Brandenburg , and Hesse . A total of 13 properties were searched there, as well as in Saxony and Thuringia .The Karlsruhe authorities stated that the accused are suspected of membership or, in one case, support of a domestic terrorist organization. Three are said to have been so-called ringleaders of the group.
Federal Court of Justice decides on arrest warrants
To carry out the attack, two suspects allegedly used accelerant to set fire to a cultural center in Altdöbern in October 2024. At the time, the building complex was occupied by several people who were only spared injuries by chance. At the beginning of January 2025, three suspects allegedly planned an arson attack on an occupied asylum seekers’ accommodation in Senftenberg. In January, two suspects smashed a window at an occupied asylum seekers’ accommodation in Schmölln and attempted to fire pyrotechnics ignited from a firework battery into the building in order to set it on fire. However, no fire broke out.
The detainees were to be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice later today, who will inform them of the arrest warrants and decide on the execution of their pre-trial detention, according to the lawyers. Since Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel, the number of anti-Semitic incidents in Germany has increased significantly.
