Police raid Reichsbürger in Germany, Romania
German police have carried out multiple raids on suspected "Reichsbürger" members in five German federal states and in Romania as well. Three suspected members of the so-called "Reichsbürger" movement, which translates to "Citizens of the Reich" were arrested, the prosecutor in Augsburg and the police department of Schwaben Nord, who were responsible for the proceedings, announced on Wednesday. The raids were carried out in Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein, and in Romania.
During the operation, five people between the ages of 48 and 69 were accused of fraud. German special forces were also used because two suspects were armed. According to the investigators, the suspects produced and distributed false documents in the form of "Reichskarten," "Reichsführerscheinen" and diplomatic passports of the "German Reich."
As Reichsbürger members refuse to acknowledge the German constitutional state, they do not accept that they must pay any taxes or fines to the German state. They still follow the legal rules of the Third Reich and stick to the borders of the 1930s.
Focusing on the smallest European Union member state, the Reichsbürger used legal loopholes to operate from Malta. Therefore, they send out official court orders – notarized by Maltese law – to German judges who urged them to follow the German state's demands to comply with their tax obligation as a German citizen.
Malta agreed with Germany on the extradition of the so-called Reichsbürger last December. Since 2014, Reichsbürger have been using the "Malta-Method" - a special trick to avoid tax penalties from Germany. Instead of paying their fines, they hit German judicial authorities with counterclaims of up to 50,000 euros.
So far the members have used the online trade register the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to register their demands. Everyone can operate under the UCC and there is no filter of participants. Those demands were supposed to be collected by their own Maltese collection agency. Finally, their demands had to be contradicted in German courts within 30 days; otherwise the fines had to be paid. Up until today, the Malta-Method had not been successful.
According to internal sources, psychological terror is the first step to success for the Reichsbürger members.
German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported last month that the number of internal disciplinary matters related to the Reich Citizens' Movement across German police forces have increased markedly recently.
During the operation, five people between the ages of 48 and 69 were accused of fraud. German special forces were also used because two suspects were armed. According to the investigators, the suspects produced and distributed false documents in the form of "Reichskarten," "Reichsführerscheinen" and diplomatic passports of the "German Reich."
As Reichsbürger members refuse to acknowledge the German constitutional state, they do not accept that they must pay any taxes or fines to the German state. They still follow the legal rules of the Third Reich and stick to the borders of the 1930s.
Focusing on the smallest European Union member state, the Reichsbürger used legal loopholes to operate from Malta. Therefore, they send out official court orders – notarized by Maltese law – to German judges who urged them to follow the German state's demands to comply with their tax obligation as a German citizen.
Malta agreed with Germany on the extradition of the so-called Reichsbürger last December. Since 2014, Reichsbürger have been using the "Malta-Method" - a special trick to avoid tax penalties from Germany. Instead of paying their fines, they hit German judicial authorities with counterclaims of up to 50,000 euros.
So far the members have used the online trade register the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) to register their demands. Everyone can operate under the UCC and there is no filter of participants. Those demands were supposed to be collected by their own Maltese collection agency. Finally, their demands had to be contradicted in German courts within 30 days; otherwise the fines had to be paid. Up until today, the Malta-Method had not been successful.
According to internal sources, psychological terror is the first step to success for the Reichsbürger members.
German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported last month that the number of internal disciplinary matters related to the Reich Citizens' Movement across German police forces have increased markedly recently.