9 people going on trial over an alleged far

BERLIN (AP) — Nine people charged in connection with an alleged far-right plot to topple the German government are going on trial Monday in one of three cases linked to the purported conspiracy, which came to light in late 2022.

The trial opening in Stuttgart is the first one and is focused on those defendants of the so-called Reich Citizens group who allegedly were part of the so-called military arm, German news agency dpa reported.

Federal prosecutors in December filed terrorism charges against a total of 27 people, one of whom has since died.

Nine other suspects, among them a self-styled prince and a former far-right lawmaker, will go on trial on May 21 at a Frankfurt state court in the most prominent of the three cases. The other eight will go on trial in Munich on June 18.

The Frankfurt case includes Heinrich XIII Prince Reuss, whom the group allegedly planned to install as Germany’s provisional new leader; Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a judge and former lawmaker with the far-right Alternative for Germany party; and a retired paratrooper.