Briefing
Investigators from the Dresden Public Prosecutor’s Office and Saxony State Criminal Police Office searched premises in several German states on 3 November 2026. According to the authorities, the measures targeted people suspected of forming the group “ Zwickau “Zwickau Collective” in 2022. Homes and other premises were searched in Saxony, Thuringia, Bremen and Hamburg; arrest warrants had been issued for several suspects.
The investigation is being conducted by the Public Prosecutor’s Office Dresden and the Saxony State Criminal Police Office’s Extremism Prevention Centre. The suspicion is that a criminal organisation was formed. The case also concerns violent offences against people classified as far-right and against state institutions. The authorities initially gave no details of specific offences, when they took place or how many people were under investigation. The search warrants were issued by the competent local court.
According to the authorities, today’s measures concerned premises in Zwickau, Dresden and Leipzig as well as in Saalfeld, Bremen and Hamburg. Investigators initially declined to say whether, or to what extent, evidence had been seized or arrest warrants executed. Further information about the allegations, case numbers and possible arrests was promised in the coming days.
Previous Saxon reports on the protection of the constitution had mentioned the “Zwickau Collective” as a left-wing group with communist symbols and occasional activities. They also described a decline in public activity following earlier police measures. On 3 November, the investigating authorities did not say whether intelligence gathered by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution would feed into the current case.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office stressed that this is an ongoing investigation and that the presumption of innocence applies. The current account is based on statements published by the Saxon investigating authorities on 3 November 2026. Further information is expected as the analysis progresses.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).