Arrest on Suspicion of Membership in a Left-Wing Extremist Organisation

Year of issue 2024
Date 09.11.2024

Yesterday (8 November 2024), the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office had agents of the Saxonian State Criminal Police Office arrest

German national Johann G.

on a train from Erfurt to Gera in execution of two arrest warrants issued by the Investigating Judge at the Federal Court of Justice on 24 March 2021 and 5 April 2024.

Johann G. is strongly suspected of multiple counts of participation in a criminal organisation (section 129a para. 1 of the German Criminal Code [StGB]). In addition, he allegedly committed grievous bodily harm (section 223 para. 1, section 224 para. 1 nos. 2 to 5 StGB), breach of peace (section 125 para. 1 no. 1 StGB), criminal damage (section 303 StGB), forgery of documents (section 267 para. 1 StGB), and attempted dangerous interference with road traffic (section 315b para. 1 no. 3, para. 2 and para. 3 in conjunction with section 315 para. 3 no. 1b StGB).

1. The arrest warrant of 24 March 2021 essentially sets out the following allegations:

Johann G. is part of an organisation, which was formed in and around Leipzig and whose members share a militant, left-wing extremist ideology. This includes, in particular, the rejection of the existing democratic rule of law, the basic right to free speech and the state monopoly on violence. In 2019 and 2020, the organisation with a supraregional network committed violent assaults on individuals who they viewed as members of the “right-wing scene”. The acts were usually preceded by extensive preparations. For instance, they included advance surveillance of the lifestyle habits of the victims selected. Johann G., in concert with Lina E. who faced charges in separate proceedings (see Press Release No. 25 of 28 May 2021), assumed a senior position within the organisation and personally participated in the following assaults:

On 8 January 2019, the suspect, Lina E. and other assailants assaulted a person in Leipzig-Connewitz. The victim was punched to the ground and subsequently kicked and hit with a striking tool, sustaining substantial, potentially life-threatening injuries.

On 19 October 2019, the suspect, in concert with other assailants, attacked the owner and customers of a bar in Eisenach. The bar had been selected as a target because it was a supposed meeting place of the “far right”. Accordingly, several group members, including Johann G., entered the premises, destroyed inventory and and attacked the victims with, inter alia, batons, irritant agents and punches.

On 14 December 2019, Johann G. and others assaulted the owner of the aforementioned bar again. To this end, the group surveilled the bar and followed the victim to his apartment in Eisenach. There, the attackers beat the victim with batons, a hammer and other striking tools. Subsequently, the group also attacked the victim’s three companions who had fled into their vehicle. The assailants damaged the vehicle with their striking tools, sprayed an irritant through the shattered windows and punched the passengers multiple times. Moreover, they repeatedly rammed their bars and batons in the direction of the passengers, seriously injuring them. Following the attack, the perpetrators fled in two vehicles to which they had attached stolen license plates. In an effort to outrun police officers, they tossed plastic bags towards the police cruisers in pursuit.

On 15 February 2020, Johann G., in concert with Lina E. and others, assaulted six individuals at Wurzen train station. The victims were returning from an event in Dresden commemorating the 75th anniversary of the bombing of the city and appeared to be members of the ‘right-wing scene’. Johann G. and Lina E. spied out the victims during their train ride and continuously updated the co-perpetrators posted in Wurzen via phone about the journey. The victims were outnumbered by their assailants when ambushed them in Wurzen. As they attempted to escape, the attackers chased them with striking tools and pepper spray. Four of the victims were brought to the ground after being repeatedly punched and beaten with batons. Lying on the ground, they were repeatedly kicked and punched in the head again, resulting in considerable injuries.

2. In essence, the arrest warrant of 5 April 2014 sets out the following allegations:

Johann G. was a member of a left-wing extremist organisation with which Simeon T. (see Press Release No. 11 of 22 March 2024) and Hanna S. (see Press Release No. 49 of 8 October 2024), who are being prosecuted separately, were also affiliated. The organisation committed assaults on alleged members of the political right, in the Hungarian capital Budapest in February 2023. The incidents occurred on the so-called “Tag der Ehre” (in English: “Day of Honour”), an annual gathering of right-wing extremists from all over Europe in Budapest to commemorate the Wehrmacht, Waffen-SS, and their Hungarian collaborators’ attempt to break through the lines of the Red Army’s siege on 11 February 1945. On 9 February 2023, Johann G. participated in an assault on three individuals outside a café. On this occasion, he and other members of the organisation repeatedly kicked and beat the victims with batons and other striking tools. The victims sustained contusions, bruises and, in part, bone fractures. On the night of 10 to 11 February 2023, Johann G. and other members of the organisation attacked two individuals in the street from behind. The suspect and the other assailants repeatedly beat the victims with striking tools and kicked them. The victims sustained multiple contusions and lacerations, particularly in the head area.

Today (9 November 2024), the suspect will be brought before the Investigating Judge at the Federal Court of Justice who will read out the arrest warrants to him.