Germany: 8 men convicted of plotting far-right uprising

BERLIN – A court in eastern Germany has convicted eight far-right extremists who were accused of planning to violently overthrow the state.

The regional court in Dresden on Tuesday convicted one of the men on a charge of forming a “terrorist organization” and the other seven of being members of the group, called Revolution Chemnitz.

Five of the men were also found guilty of serious breach of the peace, while one was convicted of bodily harm.

The court sentenced the defendants to prison terms that ranged from 27 months to 5 1/2 years. The men are between 22- and 32-years-old.

Federal prosecutors argued in court that the men tried to obtain firearms and plotted to overthrow the democratic order in Germany. They said the suspects were leading members of the neo-Nazi, skinhead and hooligan scene in the German city of Chemnitz.