Sabotage of the Power Grid: Suspect Appears Before Federal Court of Justice Judge

Following a series of sabotage attacks on the German power grid, an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has executed an arrest warrant against the suspected perpetrator. This was stated by a spokeswoman for the Federal Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe. The agency is investigating on suspicion of attempted and completed anti-constitutional sabotage, as well as attempted and completed disruption of public services. 

The man was already in pretrial detention, so in principle nothing has changed. However, because the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office—as Germany’s highest prosecuting authority—had since taken over the investigation into the incidents, it became necessary to bring him before the Federal Court of Justice.

Claim-of-responsibility letters and the suspect’s knowledge

Police had arrested the 48-year-old in early September. He is alleged to have attempted to sabotage power lines near coal-fired power plants at several locations in North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg, and Saxony. There are letters claiming responsibility. One of them states: “Generating electricity from fossil fuels is a crime.” Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) referred to the contents of the letters as evidence of the perpetrator’s knowledge.

“The acts with which the accused is charged were committed across state lines and were presumably intended to cause widespread power outages,” the Federal Prosecutor’s Office stated when it took over the investigation two days after the arrest. “This was likely to undermine public confidence in the protection of critical infrastructure and thus have a detrimental effect on the internal security of the Federal Republic of Germany.”