Berlin: German police seized a number of weapons in a series of raids on Wednesday, after death threats were made against a top politician over his strong backing for vaccines to fight the pandemic.
New chancellor Olaf Scholz promised to lead the response against a "tiny minority of uninhibited extremists", after an anti-vaccine group allegedly targeted Saxony state premier Michael Kretschmer.
The investigation centred on five men and one woman aged between 32 and 64 who were suspected "of preparing a violent crime that threatens the state", police said. The case was opened after journalists from public broadcaster ZDF infiltrated an encrypted chat on the Telegram messaging app and reported on the death threats last week. Audio messages in the group called for members to oppose the restrictions in place against coronavirus "if necessary with weapons".
They cited politicians as enemies -- in particular, Kretschmer, who has vocally supported curbs for the unvaccinated in one of the areas of the country with the lowest inoculation rates. Police and security forces in Saxony raided six addresses in the cities of Dresden and Heidenau, during which they seized "several crossbows and weapons". Threats against politicians and other public figures were "not acceptable", Kretschmer said during a news conference, adding that "every effort" would be made to pursue any perpetrators.
Scholz, who took office last week, said Germany would "not allow a tiny minority of uninhibited extremists to try to impose its will on the whole of society". In his first speech to parliament as chancellor, Scholz vowed a zero-tolerance policy against extremist groups like those behind the alleged threats against Kretschmer.
Germany will "use all the means of its democratic rule of law to defend itself against this tiny minority of the hateful attacking the rest of us", he said. The rise of violent far-right extremism in Germany was the "biggest threat to our democracy", Scholz added. A large movement with a radicalised fringe linked to right-wing extremists has emerged in Germany against health restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
