BERLIN (AP) – Police were raiding in six German states on Wednesday against a group that authorities say is “part of an international network aimed at overthrowing Eritrea's government.”
The German Federal Prosecutor's Office accuses the 17 suspects of being members of the German branch of the brigade Nuhamedu, which is defined as a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors said the investigation “indicates that the suspect is envisaged to be a senior position” within the group. German derivatives have been active since at least 2022 was involved in violence in events related to the Eritrea government.
The office said the organization coordinated violent riots at the so-called Eritrea Festival in Giessen on August 20, 2022 and August 2023, and coordinated the Eritrea Association seminar held in Stuttgart in September 2023.
Prosecutors also said some members of the association believed violence against German state institutions and police officers were legal.
More than 200 federal and state police officers searched a total of 19 facilities. Eight Hesse, four in North Rhinewestphalia, three in Bavaria, two in Baden-Württemberg, and one in Pomerania and Rhineland paratinate in western Mecklenburg. According to the DPA, another search was reported to have been conducted simultaneously in Denmark. No arrests have been made.
The prosecutor's statement also said that another person is “survived to hold a senior position within the Dutch and German “brigade n'hamedu” and was sentenced to several years in prison by a Dutch court for participating in a clash in The Hague.”
The prosecutor's office did not identify the accused by name, in line with German privacy rules.
Eritrea is one of the most oppressive countries in the world, and exiles have attacked several festivals held by the Eritrea diaspora in Europe and North America in recent years.
Some of those who fled the Horn of Africa say violence against the festival is a protest against their home government. Some people argue that revenue from the festival may support the government.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Eritrea for many years.
