A German army officer was sentenced Friday to 5.5 years in prison for planning attacks on one or more politicians. He disguised himself as a Syrian asylum seeker to blame refugees for his attack.
The case concerns 33-year-old Franco A., a former soldier of the German Bundeswehr. A. led a double life as a Syrian refugee suspected of preparing an attack on politicians and well-known anti-racism activists, writes news agency German wave in a profile of A.
The German authorities discovered the plans, after which he was arrested in April 2017. The suspect was in illegal possession of weapons, ammunition and explosives. Some of it was stolen from the German army.
Before his arrest in 2017, A. was already in the picture with the Austrian authorities, because he wanted to take a gun that he had hidden in a toilet. When checking his records, the authorities discovered that A. was registered as a Syrian refugee living in the German state of Bavaria. Neither the German army nor the German immigration service knew about A.’s double life.
After this, the Germans started an undercover investigation into A’s activities. It became clear that he adhered to an extreme right-wing ideology. He was subsequently arrested on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack.
According to news agency Reuters the news of A.’s arrest shocked German society. After that, a debate started about the presence of far-right ideas in the military.
–
