5 convicted of plotting to overthrow the German government and kidnap the health minister

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BERLIN (AP) — A German court on Thursday convicted five people of plotting to overthrow the government in a far-right coup and kidnap the former health minister.

The Koblenz Higher Regional Court sentenced the four ringleaders to prison sentences between five years and nine months to eight years. A fifth defendant received a sentence of two years and 10 months, German news agency dpa reported.

The defendants, four men aged 46 to 58 and a 77-year-old woman, were accused of founding or being a member of a terrorist organization called “United Patriots” and of preparing a highly treasonous enterprise against the German government.

Federal prosecutors said during the trial that the group was linked to the so-called Reich Citizens scene that rejects the legitimacy of Germany’s postwar constitution and has similarities to the Sovereign Citizens and QAnon movements in the United States.

Prosecutors said they intended to create “conditions similar to civil war” by using explosives to cause nationwide blackouts and then by kidnapping former Health Minister Karl Lauterbach — a prominent advocate of strict coronavirus measures during the pandemic.

There were no indications the group, which called itself United Patriots, was close to launching a coup. But prosecutors said the group’s procurement of weapons and money showed they were “dangerous criminals who wanted to implement their plans.”

The case is separate from that of the more than two dozen people arrested in December 2022, also for planning to topple the government. Among the plotters was a member of the far-right Alternative for Germany party.