Overview
- The Halle public prosecutor has launched a criminal probe for Geheimnisverrat, the illegal disclosure of investigation plans, after police carried out searches linked to the banned Artgemeinschaft last week.
- Law enforcement searched properties in five federal states as part of a case against 15 suspects accused of continuing the Artgemeinschaft despite its nationwide ban; officers secured documents and digital media and reported no arrests.
- The wider inquiry began in North Rhine-Westphalia with specific investigations into suspects in Horn-Bad Meinberg and Steinheim, according to the Detmold prosecutor's office.
- Two AfD candidates named among those searched have denied the allegations through their lawyers, a development that adds political sensitivity ahead of the Sachsen-Anhalt state vote.
- The Artgemeinschaft was outlawed by the federal interior ministry in 2023 for racist, anti-constitutional activity and had about 150 members before the ban, and prosecutors say forensic analysis of seized files will determine next steps against any leakers and the main suspects.