A 50-year-old man from Dortmund was sentenced to three years in prison on Friday by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court for operating a Darknet platform that called for the assassination of German politicians, judges, prosecutors and scientists. The German-Polish national, described as a far-right extremist and computer scientist, was convicted of terrorist financing, instructing in the commission of a terrorist offence, and providing instructions for the illegal manufacture of Molotov cocktails and explosive devices.

The platform

Between May and November 2025, the defendant ran an anonymous Darknet site he called “Assassination Politics”. On it he published death lists of prominent public figures, including former chancellors Angela Merkel (CDU) and Olaf Scholz (SPD). The lists were accompanied by personal data of the potential victims and instructions for building bombs. The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) eventually shut the site down.

The platform also solicited donations in cryptocurrency, which were to be offered as bounties for carrying out the killings. According to the court, no such payments were actually made. The federal prosecutor argued that the defendant aimed to destabilise Germany’s free democratic basic order by inciting attacks on well-known politicians.

“The court found the defendant guilty of terrorist financing, the instruction to commit a terrorist offence, and the instruction to illegally manufacture Molotov cocktails and explosive devices.”

The trial

During the trial, the defendant admitted to setting up and operating the Darknet page but portrayed himself as a victim of the justice system. The federal prosecutor had demanded a five-year prison term, while the defence sought acquittal. The court also imposed a three-year ban on holding public office.

The verdict is not yet legally binding. Both the defendant and the federal prosecutor can appeal to the Federal Court of Justice.