German prince on trial in far-right coup plot

FRANKFURT

A prince, a former MP and several ex-army officers went on trial on Tuesday, accused of masterminding a plot driven by conspiracy theories to attack the German parliament and topple the government.

In one of the biggest cases heard by German courts in decades, prosecutors accuse the group of preparing a "treasonous undertaking" to storm the Bundestag and take MPs hostage.

The defendants, including one who covered his face with a file, took their seats in a specially built high-security courtroom in Frankfurt.

Eight suspected members of the coup plot will take the stand in Frankfurt, as well as one woman accused of supporting their efforts to overthrow Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government.

The minor aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, one of the group's ringleaders on trial, was said to be in line to become the provisional head of state after the current government was overthrown.

The sensational plan, foiled by authorities at the end of 2022, is the most high-profile example of a growing threat of violence from the political fringes in Germany.

The alleged plotters are said to have taken inspiration from "conspiracy myths" including the global QAnon movement and drawn up "lists of enemies."

They also belonged to the German Reichsbuerger [Citizens of the Reich], a political movement of extremists and gun enthusiasts who reject the legitimacy of the modern German republic.

According to prosecutors, the plotters believed Germany was run by a hidden "deep state" and were waiting for a signal from a fabricated international "Alliance" of governments to launch their coup.

The proceedings in the highly complex case, in which a total of 26 people face trial, are being held across three different courts.

Nine members of the group's "military arm" went on trial in Stuttgart at the end of April.

A third set of proceedings is scheduled to begin in Munich in June.