Man arrested on suspicion of calling for attacks on German politicians and publishing hit lists

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BERLIN (AP) — A man accused of calling for attacks on German politicians and officials, seeking cryptocurrency donations to be used as a reward for their killing and publishing instructions on how to build explosives has been arrested, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The suspect, a German-Polish dual citizen identified only as Martin S. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested in Dortmund on Monday evening, federal prosecutors said in a statement. He is suspected of terrorism financing, giving instructions on carrying out a serious act of violence and dangerous dissemination of personal data.

Prosecutors allege that the man had been calling for attacks on politicians, officials and other figures in German public life on the darknet since at least June. He is accused of anonymously running a platform on which he published lists of names, self-styled death sentences and instructions for building explosives.

He also allegedly called for donations in cryptocurrency that were intended to be offered as a reward for the killing of his targets. The platform contained sensitive personal data on potential victims, prosecutors said. They didn't identify any of the people on the lists or specify what data was divulged.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, asked about the case at a previously scheduled news conference, said the investigation into a suspect trying to generate money to finance attacks against public figures via “a right-wing extremist platform” had been ongoing since June. He declined to give further details.

Federal prosecutors are responsible for significant extremism-related and national security cases in Germany.