No. 30/2023
The 5th Senate for Criminal Matters (State Security Senate [Staatsschutzsenat]) of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt/Main today sentenced 21-year-old Marvin E. to a juvenile term of imprisonment of three years and ten months for attempted formation of a terrorist organization as ringleader and for preparation of a serious violent offense endangering the state
The 5th Senate für Criminal Matters (State Security Senate) of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt/Main today found 21-year-old Marvin E. guilty of attempting to form a terrorist organization as ringleader and of preparing a serious violent offense endangering the state in combination with intentional possession of improvised explosive devices and intentional unauthorized handling of explosive substances and sentenced him to a juvenile term of three years and ten months.
In the oral statement of the reasons for the verdict, the Senate stated today that, based on the main hearing held on 40 days, it was convinced of the following:
Based on his right-wing extremist attitude existing from the summer of 2019 onwards, the defendant acquired knowledge of the internationally active far-right extremist terrorist organization "Atomwaffen Division" (DWS) no later than the beginning of 2021. Having taken over completely the association’s ideology, the defendant made – beginning of July 2021 at the latest – the decision to form according to the association’s ideological model an independent and permanently operating grouping regionally limited to Hesse under the name of “Atomwaffen Division Hessen”.
Following the ideology of AWD, the “Atomwaffen Division Hessen” with the aim of destroying the governing system and establishing “white supremacy” according to the model of National Socialism was supposed to initiate a racial and civil war through committing acts of violence up to and including deadly attacks, to further advance the war initiated and to fight in that war. Victims should have been the representatives of the state structures and ideological enemies: politicians as representatives of the democratic constitutional state as well as those persons not corresponding to the racial image of AWD, including people of the Jewish faith or dark skin color and migrants, who were to be expelled from the “living space of the white race” and were to be killed.
In order to achieve the goal of his group and to recruit further members, the defendant planned, among other things, the use of explosive devices and firearms. He saw himself and a friend as leaders of the group, which was supposed to consist five persons. In July 2021, the defendant contacted his friend on various occasions to ask him if he wanted to become a member of “Atomwaffen Division Hessen”. In addition, the defendant launched various online campaigns and promotional activities. For the night of September 18 to 19, 2021 the defendant prepared to hang up posters in favor of “Atomwaffen Division Hessen” in Kassel.
In addition, the defendant was firmly determined, at the latest at the beginning of September 2021, to commit a deadly attack in the spirit of the ideology of “Atomwaffen Division Hessen”. Thus, he had already been looking for suitable firearms since July 2021. To this end, he also dedicated five potentially deadly improvised explosive devices he had on hand, which he stowed in a metal suitcase in early September 2021 and kept in his room up until the day of his arrest. He also put aside raw materials such as ready-to-use explosive magnesium-sulfur-mixture (flash-bang kit), magnesium and sulfur powder as well as pyrotechnical objects in form of ignitions with which he planned to build further explosive devices for attacks.
Irrespective of his attack plans, the defendant kept further pyrotechnical objects up until his arrest.
The defendant himself – initially still without any concrete reference to the "Atomwaffen Division Hessen" or the commission of an attack – manufactured all improvised explosive devices, pyrotechnical objects and the flash-bang kit in his room from February 2021 onwards using materials he had previously purchased on the Internet. The improvised explosive devices would have had lethal explosive force due to incorporated steel balls.
Moreover, the defendant also investigated potential targets of attacks.
Due to his arrest on September 16, 2021, the defendant could not realize the planned poster campaign in Kassel, nor could he establish further recruitment efforts or advance preparations for an attack. He has been in custody ever since his arrest.
In the main hearings, which began on August 2, 2022 and in which the defendant predominantly admitted the facts, the Senate heard a large number of witnesses and experts.
The Senate applied juvenile criminal law due to the existence of considerable delays in maturity and development of the defendant who was 19 years old during the period of the crime.
The judgment is not yet final. The Federal Public Prosecutor General (Generalbundesanwalt) may appeal against the judgment to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH). The defendant and his defense lawyers have waived the right to appeal. The Senate ordered the continuation of pretrial detention.
Higher Regional Court Frankfurt/Main, judgment of May 8, 2023, 5-2 StE 4/22 - 5a - 1/22
English version: dep. press spokeswoman Dr. Kerstin Wierse