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The secret service of the German armed forces needs an explanation after an operation against alleged supporters of the “Reichsbürger” movement. According to information from SPIEGEL, the Bundestag committee to control the secret services has scheduled a special secret meeting for Wednesday afternoon. Behind closed doors, parliamentarians want to hear from Martina Rosenberg, head of the Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD), more details about a raid last week and the suicide of one of the main suspects the next day.
A MAD team arrived last Tuesday to conduct a search of a small Bundeswehr quality testing center at the Hensoldt weapons company premises in Ulm. According to the Defense Department, eight officials were questioned on suspicion that they were “citizens of the Reich”, including one of the department heads.
The “citizens of the Reich” do not recognize the state and its institutions such as the police and the judiciary. Many of them also maintain contact with right-wing extremist groups.
The 63-year-old prime suspect committed suicide the day after the MAD operation. There is no indication of negligence by third parties, according to the prosecutor.
While working on the operation, several inconsistencies and setbacks are now known. The MAD had to admit internally that there was a leak of information before the operation. A journalist received details of the plans and suspected officials days before the MAD’s planned action. Disclosure of such information about a secret service operation is a criminal offense, treason investigations have been launched.
Press release raises questions
There are also open questions about suicide. Various sources confirmed to SPIEGEL that the alleged “Reich citizen” was followed by a MAD team that day. As a result, the officers carefully watched as the man in his hometown of Krumbach tried to remove possible evidence such as data carriers and documents in various dumpsters. The researchers collected them for further evaluation.
The MAD does not claim to have observed the suicide. Consequently, the observation team lost sight of the target shortly before. It was only when the MAD people drove to the address of the man’s home that they learned of the suicide from local police. Soon after, the police found a farewell letter from the officer, the contents of which were kept secret.
In hindsight, the press release on the raid, which the Defense Ministry sent out on Wednesday night, also seems questionable. In the text, the 63-year-old man was fairly easy to identify from the wording that the management of the small office in Ulm was “affected” by the investigation. It was also unusual for Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to comment on the action of the secret service with quotes and expressly praise them.
In fact, both the MAD and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution took the suspicion of the “Reich citizen” very seriously at the Ulm quality test center. For months, agents used nearly every available service to learn more about the alleged network. They found ample evidence of radicalism in the people being tested. No plans for violent actions could be identified. But since almost all of the alleged members legally owned weapons and were connected to other “Reich citizens”, it was decided to go ahead with the raid.
Explosive details about possible technical errors during the operation put the MAD back in dire straits. Just a few weeks ago, Kramp-Karrenbauer had appointed Martina Rosenberg, a new head for the bankrupt authority, and sent President Christof Gramm into retirement. The former defense discipline lawyer is now quickly realizing how difficult the position at the head of the Cologne authority can be.
It was said in security circles that all three incidents – the betrayal of secrets, the unusually detailed press release, and the observation shortly before the suicide – would raise questions and should be clarified. Despite several inquiries by SPIEGEL in recent days, the MAD and the Ministry of Defense have declined to comment on the operation. The reason given was simply that it was an ongoing investigation that could not be commented on.
