Germany’s Public Prosecutor has initiated legal proceedings against three teenagers from North Rhine-Westphalia, accusing them of preparing for an Islamist terrorist attack.
A spokesperson for the Düsseldorf Regional Court stated to the German news agency that the suspects, aged between 15 and 16 years old, have been detained since Easter, and the court recently ordered an extension of their provisional detention. The authorities suspect that a girl from Düsseldorf, another from Iserlohn, and a boy from Lippstadt discussed terrorist plans via the Telegram app, including attacks on churches, courthouses, train stations, or police stations.
According to the records, the suspects have given their statements regarding these charges. The authorities have not disclosed whether they have denied or confessed to the charges. The spokesperson mentioned that the court has not yet decided whether to accept the lawsuit; hence, no trial date has been set yet. A separate case against a fourth suspect from Ostfildern in Baden-Württemberg was split off and transferred to the public prosecutor’s office in Stuttgart. Last spring, the authorities stated that the plans were guided by the ideology of the “ISIS” organization. According to the lawsuit filed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Düsseldorf, the teenagers are suspected of declaring their readiness to commit a crime and preparing for “a serious act of violence that endangers the state.”
The police in Hagen initially became aware of the 16-year-old girl from Iserlohn because there were indications that she wanted to leave the country to join “ISIS” and fight in its ranks. It is suspected that she discussed this with the other girl from Düsseldorf. Upon analyzing her mobile phone data, investigators found another conversation in which attack plans were discussed.
According to security sources, there was no specific attack plan in terms of timing and location. According to the public prosecutor, one of the three teenagers gathered information about police stations in Dortmund.
During searches in Düsseldorf, security sources mentioned that a scythe and a dagger were seized. The sources also indicated that the father of the Düsseldorf girl had previously attracted the authorities’ attention and had been investigated as a terrorism supporter on the background of collecting donations for “ISIS.”
