Arrests in Saxony: Two suspected IS members

At the center of the proceedings, according to investigators, is the allegation that the suspects are said to have been active for the Islamic State in the past and, in this context, planned or supported concrete preparatory acts for an attack in Germany. Details of the alleged course of events or of possible target objects were not initially made public by the authority. The Prosecutor General's Office referred to the ongoing investigations.

Searches in Königstein

The arrest took place in Königstein in Saxony. During the operation, forces searched several properties in order to secure evidence. The Central Office for Extremism Saxony is coordinating the investigations and, according to its own statements, will submit the case to the Higher Regional Court of Dresden to open the main trial as soon as the investigations are completed.

The authority initially did not confirm any concrete acute threat situation for the population in Saxony beyond the arrest that had already taken place. The security authorities described the case as an investigative success in the area of Islamist counterterrorism. The Prosecutor General's Office announced that, given sufficient suspicion, it would press charges for membership in a foreign terrorist organization and for preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state.

Biographical details and background

According to an initial review, the suspects are said to have been in contact with structures of the Islamic State in the past. Whether they were still carrying out active orders at the time of their arrest or are being prosecuted solely because of their former membership is the subject of the ongoing investigations. The Dresden Prosecutor General's Office asked that speculation be refrained from and referred to the jurisdiction of the Higher Regional Court of Dresden over the case.

Investigators initially provided no further details on the biographical background of the two arrestees. The authority also did not comment in detail on possible links to other German federal states or abroad. The evaluation of the seized evidence as well as possible further searches were still pending, it said further.

The case is part of a series of investigative proceedings that German security authorities have conducted in recent years against alleged supporters of the Islamic State. The Central Office for Extremism Saxony was specifically established to bundle such proceedings in the Free State and works closely with the State Office of Criminal Investigation and with federal authorities.

Possible sentence and further proceedings

Legally, the suspects face a prison sentence of several years if convicted. According to criminal law experts, the relevant criminal provisions on preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state and on membership in a foreign terrorist organization regularly provide for prison sentences of several years. The competent court decided on specific arrest warrants and possible pre-trial detention.

The Dresden Prosecutor General's Office announced that further details of the proceedings and the results of the searches would be communicated in the coming days, as soon as this was tactically possible for the investigation.