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German law enforcement has detained a German citizen for operating a website on the dark web that encouraged death threats against key politicians.
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Prosecutors added that the suspect even solicited crypto donations to pay for the successful murder of politicians to whom he had allegedly given “death sentences.”
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At the same time, the number of cyber attacks globally has steadily increased in recent months.
The German law enforcement has detained a Polish-German citizen known as Martin S. for operating a platform spurring to murder top politicians. According to a Reuters report, prosecutors noted that the accused not only threatened to kill politicians but also solicited donations to fund the successful implementation of his hits.
Martin requested donations via crypto payments to make the payments more accessible to individuals who can make payments from anywhere in the world.
German Citizen Arrested for Running a Platform on the Dark Web, Targeting the Lives of Politicians
German law enforcement did not name any of the public figures or politicians that Martins aimed at. Notably, Martin’s site listed former Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel, as reported by some media publications.
On Monday evening, police officers arrested Martin in Dortmund, then charged him with serious offenses against the state. Prosecutors did not disclose why he launched his website and ran his operations, and also did not mention who he worked for.
So, he appeared to be working alone in his nefarious actions against German politicians and public figures.
Increase in Cyber Threats Against Politicians
The dark net differs from the regular web in that it is inaccessible to traditional web browsers and can only be accessed using special apps. Websites deployed here are, therefore, difficult to trace.
Martin’s darknet website also comprised sensitive personal details on his potential victims and instructions on how to make explosives. This case highlights the dark web’s role as a service for extreme and dangerous content, a trend also seen in other disturbing cases, like the circulation of Chinese Actor Yu Menglong’s Death. The suspect launched his darknet portal in June, starting operations immediately.
As political polarization grows, more German politicians say they’re facing both physical and verbal attacks.
Also, there has been a steady growth in the scale of cyberbullying against political leaders in Germany and other European countries.
In similar developments, the German cybersecurity commission BSI warned on Tuesday that firms and legal entities were not doing enough to safeguard themselves.
The BSI noted that during the February national election, the number of distributed denial of service attacks grew to 52%. The agency revealed that crimes against German political figures peaked in 2024. The police force also reported 84,172 cases of such crimes last year—a huge 40.2% growth from the previous year.
Also, the report noted that the majority of DDoS attacks against Germans came from Russian threat actors. In addition, the report stated that the number of incidents reported for violent political crime rose to 4,107, a 15% rise when compared to 2023. The report stated that it was the highest level reported since 2016.
