Berlin, Dec 12 (AP) German lawmakers said Monday they are digging deeper into an alleged coup plot uncovered last week, when police detained dozens of people linked to the far-right Reich Citizens movement.

Prosecutors said the 24 Germans and one Russian detained last Wednesday are suspected of being members of, or of supporting, a “terrorist organisation" that planned to topple the government.

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“There were obviously plans that, based on the scale of their intentions against our liberal democracy, are shocking,” said Konstantin von Notz, a Green party lawmaker.

“Now the evidence that has been collected needs to be carefully reviewed,” he said following a meeting with federal prosecutors.

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“But what is known today, what has already been presented today in the legal affairs committee by the attorney general, these are significant events that are extremely disturbing.”

Speaking ahead of a briefing by security agencies, von Notz and other lawmakers drew parallels to the storming of the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.

Prosecutors say some of those detained last week had plans to enter the German parliament, or Bundestag, with weapons.

“We have seen time and again in recent years that parliament buildings are a welcome target for far-right extremists, conspiracy theories and their friends,” said Konstantin Kuhle, a member of the Free Democratic Party.

“The Bundestag is the most visited parliament in the world,” he said. “We as deputies can't do our job if we have to isolate ourselves.”

Kuhle warned that far-right extremists were increasingly forging networks that reach deep into what he described as “the middle of society," including soldiers and police officers.

One of those detained was Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a judge and former lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany party, or AfD.

Germany's top security official, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, has suggested tightening the rules for civil servants suspected of supporting antigovernment movements such as the Reich Citizens.

Uli Groetsch, a member of Faeser's Social Democratic Party, said the alleged coup plans also showed the need to scrutinise AfD more closely.

“We cannot accept that there is a party in this country that, as it appears now, is directly the source of a putsch attempt,” he said. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)