26 June 2019; DW: A right wing terror group was allegedly planning a civil war-like rebellion in Berlin before they were stopped by police. Chemnitz has emerged as a center of extreme-right groups.
German prosecutors charged a right-wing group with terrorism offenses, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
Members of Revolution Chemnitz were alleged to have the formed the group in September with the intention of planning and carrying out terror attacks.
The charges were initially revealed by a collaboration between public broadcasters NDR, WDR and newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, and later confirmed by the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe.
Members of the group had allegedly planned to orchestrate a civil-war-like rebellion in Berlin on October 2, 2018. Prosecutors based their charges partly on the use of chat logs found on the defendants' mobile phones.
Eight alleged members are being held in pre-trial custody and known to police as leaders in the right-wing extremist scene in the eastern city of Chemnitz, which was the scene of anti-immigrant protests last year.
The trial is expected to begin in the fall before the Higher Regional Court of Dresden.
False-flag attack planned
One of the accused reportedly admitted during interrogation that the action in Berlin was intended to "override laws," and that they wanted to make it appear that leftists were responsible for the planned actions.
The men, aged 21 to 31, allegedly lead the skinhead, hooligan and neo-Nazi scenes in the Chemnitz area.
They were arrested shortly after forming their alleged alliance.
