Germany: Conspiracy theorist Hildmann helped by mole in judiciary, report says
Germany’s infamous conspiracy theorist and antisemitic extremist Attila Hildmann fled to Turkey in late 2020 to evade prosecution on multiple criminal charges, including incitement to racial hatred and harassment.
On Monday, public broadcasters ARD and NDR published an explosive report confirming rumors that Hildmann was passed confidential information about the criminal investigation against him by an employee at the Berlin public prosecutor’s office.
An IT worker identified as only as “M.” is believed to have stolen sensitive data from her employer and “given it to the suspect, Hildmann,” confirmed Martin Steltner, a spokesman for the Berlin judiciary.
M., 32, is also suspected of having visited Hildmann in Turkey.
Authorities were able to zero in on her as a culprit after analyzing which employees had accessed files related to Hildmann’s case. Further investigation revealed that she is an active member of Germany’s“Querdenker”, or Lateral Thinker, movementthat protests COVID restrictions in Germany.
Who is Attila Hildmann?
Hildmann, a 40-year-old Berlin native, first gained prominence a decade ago as an author of popular vegan cookbooks. This led to him being a regular talk show guest, gaining a YouTube following, and guest spots on reality competition programs.
By 2015, Hildmann had begun using his platform to spread eco-fascist, anti-refugee rhetoric, as well as Holocaust denial, antisemitic hate speech, and conspiracy theories.
When the coronavirus pandemic began, Hildmann became a leader in the Querdenker movement. He has claimed that the German government is working for tech billionaire Bill Gates in using COVID to expand the surveillance state.
After being banned from mainstream social media, he took to hate speech platform wtube to promote his theories, and amassed a following of some 100,000 people on Telegram. However, in July 2021, his Telegram channel was blocked by unknown means.
Police finally gained a warrant to search his Berlin home in February 2021, at which time it was obvious that Hildmann had not been there for several weeks.
Both Steltner and Kai Enderes, a former Hildmann confidant, told ARD that they believe he did not flee due to the information he was passed from M., and that he did it preemptively in case authorities tried to arrest him.
It is considered unlikely that Turkey will search for and deport Hildmann, as he also holds Turkish citizenship.
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