Federal Prosecutor takes over power-grid sabotage case: 48-year-old in custody
Following attacks on substations in several federal states, the Federal Prosecutor's Office has assumed control of the investigation. The suspect is accused of constitutionally hostile sabotage.
Karlsruhe takes over investigations following attacks on German power grid
The Federal Prosecutor's Office has assumed control of the investigation against a 48-year-old suspect who is alleged to have committed multiple sabotage attacks on the German power grid. On account of the special significance of the case, the Karlsruhe authority has taken jurisdiction, a spokesperson stated. According to Tagesschau, the suspicion includes constitutionally hostile sabotage.
"The acts attributed to the defendant occurred across state lines and allegedly aimed at causing widespread power outages," the Federal Prosecutor's Office explained. The attacks were believed to be suitable for undermining public confidence in the protection of critical infrastructure and thereby exerting harmful influence on the internal security of the Federal Republic.
The suspect is alleged to have attempted sabotage operations at several locations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and Saxony, targeting power lines near coal-fired power plants — in some cases successfully. He was arrested during a major police operation near the Weisweiler power plant near Aachen.
Investigators discovered a notebook with handwritten notes concerning more than 160 previous and possible future sabotage targets in his motorhome. North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul reported to the state parliament's interior committee: "We have not only apprehended the alleged perpetrator of the attacks, but in doing so have possibly prevented further attacks," said the CDU politician.
The suspect also named seven locations to the judge in charge of detention proceedings which he is alleged to have used as storage depots. Police have already found evidence at three of these, according to Reul. The man is currently leading officers in a patrol car to various locations. In North Rhine-Westphalia alone, more than 40 rocket-launching devices have been seized so far — "It all looked rather professionally constructed," the interior minister said.
According to the investigation, the man is said to have fired wires over high-voltage power lines using homemade rockets in order to cause short circuits. He succeeded at least twice, which temporarily incapacitated individual power plant units. There were no direct impacts on the population.
The Aachen district court has issued an arrest warrant; the 48-year-old is in pre-trial detention. Since jurisdiction has now shifted to the federal level, he must appear again before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice. A date for this has not yet been set.
Source: Tagesschau