The Federal Court of Justice largely upheld the convictions of four defendants for their membership in the far‑right martial‑arts group “Knockout 51”. The Higher Regional Court of Thuringia had sentenced the accused, in part, to multi‑year total freedom sentences for participation in a criminal association in concert with dangerous bodily harm, and a youth sentence for one defendant. The federal prosecutor had appealed, seeking to have the group classified as a terrorist organization rather than a criminal one; the Supreme Court did not accept that argument.
According to the lower court, three of the defendants founded the “far‑right, Eisenach‑based” martial‑arts group in 2019. The organisation had between ten and fifteen members and was intended to enable physical confrontations and violence against so‑called “enemy” figures-such as police officers, political opponents-and people linked to an “antisocial milieu”. The martial‑arts training was presented as preparation for real combat situations. In connection with the group, the accused allegedly committed a range of crimes, including several dangerous bodily injuries. For two defendants, multiple weapons or parts of weapons were seized.
The Supreme Court’s review found no procedural errors. Nonetheless, the prosecutor’s appeals had some success: it was not ruled out that one defendant was liable for a more serious weapon offence, and another defendant’s youth sentence was found to be insufficiently severe. Consequently, the Higher Regional Court of Thuringia now has to reassess the conviction of one accused and recalculate sentences for two others.