The Bundeswehr secret service MAD has an explosive new case of Right-wing extremism uncovered in the troop. According to SPIEGEL information, a reservist from Lower Saxony, who the investigators now classify as clearly right-wing extremists, was immediately banned from wearing uniforms and serving. The NCO was removed from an ongoing reserve exercise on Friday.
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The case is likely to be the discussion of a possible right-wing extremist network among reservists armed forces continue to heat up.
After several references to right-wing extremists among the reservists had MAD and defense of Constitution A joint working group was founded last year, and more than a thousand cases of possibly right-wing soldiers have been discussed there to date. Cooperation is necessary because the MAD is only responsible for active soldiers.
Explosive find
According to SPIEGEL information, the investigators had tracked down the non-commissioned officer from Lower Saxony because he was involved in two right-wing extremist chat groups via the WhatsApp messenger service. There, clearly right-wing extremist propaganda material and hate speech were exchanged among the participants.
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Investigators spoke of a new quality that goes far beyond the previously discovered chat groups of preppers or citizens of the Reich.
A find that the investigators made on the NCO’s computer is particularly explosive. For example, a detailed list of 17 politicians and celebrities was found on the suspect’s data carriers, which are listed with cell phone numbers and some with their private addresses. Apparently the list was shared among the chat participants. It has not yet been determined who created them and when, security circles said.
According to SPIEGEL information, in addition to Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and his predecessor Sigmar Gabriel from the SPD, Family Minister Franziska Giffey, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig, Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Malu Dreyer, Vice Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ex-Party Leader Martin Schulz are also listed. From the Greens, party leaders Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck are on the list, as well as ex-party leader Cem Özdemir. The three left-wing politicians Katja Kipping, Gregor Gysi and Dietmar Bartsch and FDP boss Christian Lindner are also listed, as well as the actor Til Schweiger.
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So far, the investigators do not know the purpose for which the list was drawn up.
However, the find is reminiscent of lists of political opponents that appeared after the arrest of the right-wing Bundeswehr soldiers Franco A. were found in 2017. At that time there was a fear that attacks or even murder attacks were being prepared for the listed personalities. At least one person was spied on the office and detailed sketches were made.
Is it a death list?
On Monday, investigators did not want to assess whether the evidence now found was a real death list. It could be that the list was distributed among the participants so that they should insult politicians in letters or calls. However, since the chat was right-wing extremist after first reviewing the process, investigators must also investigate the suspicion that chat participants were planning violent actions against the politicians.
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According to the current find, the politicians concerned were therefore immediately warned by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), and in some cases the security measures for top politicians were reportedly increased. At the same time, the investigators are trying to determine whether other reservists or active soldiers of the Bundeswehr have participated in the far-right chats and whether such a far-right network has formed.
The quick measures against the reservists from Lower Saxony show how seriously the Bundeswehr is taking the case. The Bundeswehr wants to rule out that the suspect has access to weapons or ammunition. The civil authorities were also involved.
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The Ministry of Defense confirmed the case after a corresponding SPIEGEL request, but did not want to give any further details. “We are aware of a case of a reservist suspected of belonging to extreme right-wing chat groups,” said a spokesman for Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU). The spokesman did not want to give details because of the ongoing investigations of the MAD and the civil authorities.
The suspicion that an extreme right-wing network could have formed among the more than 115,000 reservists in the Bundeswehr has been around for some time. A similar chat group of reservists called “Refuge” had recently been exposed. In their Facebook chat group they had discussed, among other things, private armament and a possible “racial war”. The Association of Reservists then announced strict controls on members.
MAD boss Christof Gramm, who reported on the work of his service in the Bundestag on Monday, also gave irritating figures about right-wing reservists. According to Gramm, around 800 reservists have been excluded from reserve exercises in recent months because of their anti-constitutional attitude. “We are playing it safe here,” stressed Gramm. In order not to endanger the investigations of his investigators, he did not raise the current case in the public session.
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