A man was arrested in Germany on suspicion of inciting attacks on politicians on the darknet.
According to a source close to the case, the suspect had targeted former German Chancellors Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel.
The German-Polish man, Martin S., is said to have been calling for violence since at least June on a platform he managed on the darknet, a hidden part of the internet widely used by criminals.
Federal prosecutors reported that the suspect requested donations in cryptocurrency to use as a reward.
According to prosecutors, the platform contained a list of names of politicians and public figures. The man also published death sentences he had written himself, manuals for making explosives and lists of personal data of potential victims, according to prosecutors.
The German Public Prosecutor's office has not said whether the man himself had any weapons or explosives.
The arrest took place on Monday evening in Dortmund. The suspect was charged with financing terrorism, inciting serious violence that endangers the state, and disseminating personal data in a manner that endangers the public.
Investigators place Martin S. in the milieu of the Reichsbürger, a movement that does not recognise present-day Germany and its state institutions and believes in the continued existence of the German Reich, which existed from 1871 to 1945.
Several members of this heterogeneous group are suspected of attempting to carry out attacks and even coups. According to the source among the investigators, this suspect acted alone.
