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The prosecutor's office accused the defendants, some of them
teenagers, of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and
grievous bodily harm.
Most of the youths were arrested in May, when they were accused
of involvement with a group calling itself “Last Defense Wave”
that allegedly aimed to destabilize the country’s democratic
system by carrying out attacks on migrants and political
opponents.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the group sees
itself as the “final authority” for defending the “German
nation.” It said the group was founded in May 2024 and that it
planned or carried out arson and bomb attacks on asylum-seekers’
homes and left-wing institutions.
At the time, five suspects between 14 and 21 years old were
arrested in the states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania,
Brandenburg, and Hesse. The police searched 13 properties there,
as well as in Saxony and Thuringia. Three other suspects were
already in custody at the time.
Due to the suspects' age, some of them had to appear with their
parents before the investigating judge at the federal court of
justice in Karlsruhe. With the exception of one suspect, who was
released in July, all others are in pretrial detention.
Federal prosecutors attribute three attacks and planned attacks
to the group, including an arson attack on a cultural center in
Altdöbern in the state of Brandenburg, an attempted but
unsuccessful attack on an asylum-seekers’ home in Schmölln in
Thuringia, and plans to attack an asylum-seekers’ accommodation
in Senftenberg, also in Brandenburg.
Nobody was injured during the incidents. Several members of the
group were also accused of robbing and beating individuals,
causing significant injuries, the prosecutor's statement said.
According to documents released in July, the group's members
planned to “trigger a race war in which a spiral of violence and
counterviolence would be set in motion to preserve the ‘white
race’ and ultimately eliminate liberal democracy," German news
agency dpa reported.
They are said to have posted racist and antisemitic messages on
social media and glorified the “Third Reich” and National
Socialism, according to dpa.
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