German police searched several locations in the eastern state of Saxony on Wednesday as part of a probe into what they said was a plot to murder the state's prime minister, Michael Kretschmer, by anti-vaccination activists.
The searches in the city of Dresden targeted individual members of a group on the messaging program Telegram, where plans for the killing were discussed in connection with the state government's coronavirus curbs, police said.
The group "Dresden Offlinevernetzung", or Dresden offline networking, came to the attention of authorities after an investigation published last week by broadcaster ZDF.
The ZDF report revealed that members of the Telegram group spoke about killing representatives of the Saxony state government at meetings in Dresden.
Special forces took part in Wednesday's raids launched after statements by members of the Telegram group suggested that they might be in possession of sharp weapons and crossbows, Saxony police said on Twitter.
Saxony, which has the second highest rate of new coronavirus cases in Germany and the lowest vaccination rate, has seen protests by opponents of coronavirus restrictions in recent weeks.
Last month, a group of protesters held a torch-lit gathering outside the home of Saxony's interior minister, in what was widely seen as an implicit threat of violence against her.
Members of a new expert panel advising the German government on the coronavirus pandemic held their first meeting Tuesday, amid signs that government restrictions imposed in recent weeks are beginning to slow infection rates.
Germany's disease control agency reported 30,823 newly confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, compared with 45,753 two weeks ago. More than 470 new deaths from COVID-19 were also recorded.
Scientists say it's too early to say how the new omicron variant will affect Germany's infection rates, but the country's new health minister, Karl Lauterbach, expressed cautious optimism, tweeting Monday: “The situation is slowly stabilizing and the decline in case numbers is real.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who recently succeeded longtime German leader Angela Merkel, appointed the 19-member panel — made up of virologists, clinical practitioners, ethicists and other experts — to provide advice to his new government.
