A soldier suspected of planning a terrorist attack disguised as a refugee has been released due to insufficient evidence. The case of Franco A. has drawn attention to right-wing extremists among the German army's ranks.
"The results so far of the investigation do not substantiate the strong suspicion that a serious act threatening the state was in preparation," argued the Karlsruhe-based Federal Court of Justice (Germany's highest criminal court in most instances) in its decision.
Federal prosecutors accused Franco A. of living a double life as an army officer with far-right extremist sentiments and a refugee receiving government benefits.
The 28-year-old allegedly took on the identity of a Syrian refugee, planning to commit terrorist attacks targeting public figures and blame the incidents on asylum seekers. He is suspected of stealing assault rifles from the German military and stashing weapons at an airport in Vienna, Austria.
The case of Franco A. drew widespread attention across Germany after information surfaced that he stored Nazi paraphernalia in his barracks, including an assault rifle case with a swastika carved into it.
Bundeswehr scandals: Von der Leyen on the defensive
For German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, 2017 has so far been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year. She's had to weather numerous Bundeswehr scandals and is under fire for not supporting her own troops.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Von der Leyen under fire
Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen wanted to show she's not blind to problems among her own troops. In light of the most recent scandal, she openly criticized army leadership, saying the Bundeswehr had an "attitude problem." But Bundeswehr officials found her comments to be outrageous. Their response to the defense minister's criticism: "Leadership goes from the top down."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/G. Fischer
A fake Syrian refugee
The story causing the uproar: Bundeswehr lieutenant Franco A. was allegedly planning a terrorist attack and led a double life, pretending to be a Syrian refugee. He was granted partial asylum status as a war refugee in December 2016. His alleged goal: another attack blamed on a refugee. Bundeswehr officials are said to have known about Franco A.'s right-wing tendencies since 2014, but did nothing.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/F. Rumpenhorst
Abuse in Bad Reichenhall mountain rangers unit
The Bundeswehr is currently investigating 275 cases of suspected right-wing extremism. But they're also dealing with other types of scandals. In March 2017, the public learned about the case of a lance corporal who had suffered months of abuse in a Bavarian mountain rangers unit. The victim reported being threatened and sexually harassed in 2015 and 2016. Prosecutors investigated 14 people.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Hoppe
Female recruits forced to pole-dance
The biggest scandal of von der Leyen's term so far: the horror stories coming out of the Staufer army base in Pfullendorf. In January, it was revealed that superior officers there forced recruits to undress and perform sexually-motivated acts and filmed them. Female recruits were forced to pole dance as part of an "entrance exam." The top Bundeswehr training commander was fired as a result.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Warnack
Many cases of right-wing extremism investigated
According to a report from Germany's federal parliamentary commissioner for the Bundeswehr, Hans-Peter Bartels, 2016 wasn't a great year for the Bundeswehr, either. There were around 60 incidents related to alleged right-wing extremism or "violations against the bases of Germany's free democratic constitutional structure." Troops shared anti-Semitic images and music or did the Nazi salute.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
Death on board the Gorch Fock
The Bundeswehr wasn't immune to scandals before von der Leyen became defense minister in December 2013. One that garnered significant public attention was the death of a 25-year-old recruit on the Navy training vessel Gorch Fock in 2010. The woman fell from the rigging during an exercise. As a consequence, other cadets refused to climb the rigging. Officer training on the ship was suspended.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Rehder
The birth of the Bundeswehr
Directly after World War II, Germany was not allowed to have an army. The Bundeswehr had its start in West Germany in 1955. After reunification, the Bundeswehr took in 20,000 soldiers from East Germany's armed forces. A big change came in 1999, when the Bundeswehr first participated in an international conflict: the Kosovo War. Before that, they had only gone abroad for peacekeeping missions.
Image: picture alliance/akg-images
No more mandatory service
Today the Bundeswehr has roughly 178,200 active soldiers. As of March 2017, 11.4 percent of them are women. Until 2011, men were required to do mandatory military service, the length of which varied between nine and 18 months. Today, the Bundeswehr has to appeal to young people to recruit soldiers. The most recent scandals are making that that more and more difficult.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Sauer
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Right-wing extremism in the Bundeswehr
Leaders of the German armed forces have come under increased pressure from the government to deal with members of far-right movements among its ranks.
Authorities have launched investigations into right-wing sentiment among soldiers, with prosecutors in the German city of Tübingen investigating allegations of right-wing extremist behavior among Germany's Special Force Commando, the nation's elite military troops.
German lawmakers have called for stringent measures to combat case of extremism in the Bundeswehr, with Left Party domestic policy spokeswoman Ulla Jelpke saying "there can be no pardon for neo-Nazis."
"Armed right-wing extremists are ticking time-bombs," said Jelpke in September. "Even on reasonable suspicion, the persons concerned should no longer have access to weapons until the allegations have been clarified."
