Overview
- Prosecutors in Düsseldorf have charged two young men with agreeing to commit a crime, accusing them of planning illegal acquisition of war weapons in violation of the German War Weapons Control Act.
- One suspect, a 23-year-old German, is held in pretrial detention while the 19-year-old remains in extended police custody pending further legal review.
- Investigators say wiretaps recorded discussions about obtaining AK-47 rifles but police found no weapons during searches; officers did seize electronic data carriers that will be examined as evidence.
- The case grew out of tips from an intelligence service and earlier surveillance that noted a suspected ideological proximity to the Islamic State and reported recent radicalization of the older suspect.
- Courts will now decide whether to admit the indictment, prosecutors must show how the intercepted conversations and seized data support the charges, and two other men initially detained have been released but remain under observation.