New raids on “Kollektiv Zwickau” | Repression against communists expanded

The police escort a rally of the »III. way”. The “Zwickau Collective” is said to have attacked a member of the right-wing extremist party last September. Photo: dpa/Sebastian Willnow The investigations against the “Zwickau Collective” have expanded: On Wednesday, the Saxony State Criminal Police Office searched the apartments of eight other suspected members on the orders of the Dresden District Court. The Dresden public prosecutor's office obtained the decision for the measures in seven cities in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. During the searches, the authorities said they seized “technical evidence and many propaganda materials.”

The first raid against the group took place on Tuesday last week - one day before the official commemoration of the victims of the right-wing terrorist "National Socialist Underground" (NSU), whose core trio had found shelter undisturbed in Zwickau for years. To do this, the LKA officers searched apartments in Zwickau, Dresden, Leipzig, Bremen and Hamburg, among others.

According to authorities, four arrest warrants were executed and a fifth suspect was arrested because he allegedly assaulted a police officer during the raid. Two of those arrested were taken into custody, including 36-year-old Marcel S., who was described as the ringleader.

On Wednesday, raids followed again in Zwickau and Leipzig as well as Glauchau, Mittweida, Schwarzenberg, Meuselwitz and Halle (Saale). According to authorities, there were no new arrests. In total, the investigation is now targeting 20 suspects between the ages of 18 and 36.

The Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office and the Police Terrorism and Extremism Defense Center of the State Criminal Police Office (PTAZ) of Saxony are investigating the "Zwickau Collective" on suspicion of forming a criminal organization. The accused are accused of having formed a communist group in 2022. According to the authorities, they wanted to take action regionally and nationally against right-wing extremist and inhumane structures and to do this they committed bodily harm and damage to property.

Some of the accused are said to be behind, among other things, an attack in the summer of 2024 in Zwickau's Schlobigpark, in which a group of ten people were attacked with telescopic batons and pepper spray and three people were injured. According to media reports, the “Zwickau Collective” is also said to be involved in an attack on a member of the “III. Weg« may have been involved last September.

As early as February 2025, there were searches in Zwickau, Dresden, Saalfeld and Schwarzenberg due to investigations against the communist group, during which, among other things, impact weapons, irritants and electronic devices were seized.

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