German court releases far-right army officer
By
Dietmar Henning
1 December 2017
The far-right German army officer Franco A. has been freed from custody. The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) withdrew his arrest warrant on Wednesday. The court in Karlsruhe ruled that, based on investigations, there was insufficient evidence that he was preparing a major act of sedition.
Franco A. has been in custody since April 26. The then 28-year-old was caught two months earlier by the Austrian police when he sought to retrieve a gun from Vienna Airport, where he had previously hidden it. It then emerged that A. had registered in Bavaria as a Syrian refugee and apparently planned terror attacks against politicians and left-wing activists using his false identity.
Two alleged accomplices, Bundeswehr soldiers Maximilian T. and Mathias F., were arrested shortly after Franco A. Franco A. and Maximilian T. were stationed in Illkirch, Alsace. T. is alleged to have drawn up the list of victims which was found in the possession of A.
The list included high-ranking politicians, such as the then German president Joachim Gauck, Justice Minister Heiko Maas and the Thuringian premier, Bodo Ramelow. Also on the list were leftist activists such as Philipp Ruch of the Center for Political Beauty and institutions such as the Central Council of Jews and the Central Council of Muslims. There were all regarded as potential targets for terrorist attacks.
Maximilian T. and Mathias F. were released from custody in July, after the BGH ruled there were no longer grounds to hold them. Now the last of the three terror suspects has been freed.
This is despite the fact that, according to the newspaper Die Welt, evidence pointing to concrete actions were found in A’s notebook. There is a reference, for example, which…