German authorities investigate far-right e-mail threats

BERLIN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- A series of anonymous e-mail messages threatening violence have been sent to politicians, lawyers and other public figures across Germany.

German authorities have reportedly registered over 100 anonymous threatening e-mails sent from the so-called 'darknet' since the end of 2018. The term 'darknet' refers to portions of the internet not open to public view.

According to a report carried by German public broadcaster NDR and the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper on Wednesday, the e-mails were signed by different senders identified with the political extreme right-wing, such as "National Socialist Offensive," "NSU 2.0" or "Wehrmacht."

The e-mails were sent from different accounts, but the German investigators reportedly found similarities in their wording and in the selection of targets, which led them to suspect that the same person or group of persons was behind the messages.

The recipients of the e-mails included German politicians, lawyers, the Central Council of Jews in Germany as well as artists, German media reported.

Some of the e-mails claimed that the senders had planted bombs, but according to the investigators none of the threats were acted on and everything "had remained virtual." According to press reports, no bombs were found during any of the police searches.

At least 15 bomb threats from the sender "National Socialist Offensive" are reported to have been received by courts and judiciary centers since Dec. 2018. the targets included the Munich Higher Regional Court, the Bamberg Higher Regional Court, a building of the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt and Hamburg Airport.

The series of bomb threats had led to the precautionary evacuation of the central railway station in the city of Luebeck and the tax office in the city of Gelsenkirchen on Monday, German media reported.

The latest e-mail threat was sent to Martina Renner, a member of the German Parliament, according to NDR and Sueddeutsche Zeitung. In that message, the "National Socialist Offensive" threatened to send mail bombs and said that it would "execute citizens in the street." The sender or senders also claimed to have assault rifles, pistols and even biological warfare agents at their disposal.

The German federal prosecutors have agreed to investigate jointly with the Berlin public prosecutor's office, the NDR and Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported. The cases are being investigated for charges of extortion, sedition as well as disturbance of public peace by the threat of crime.