Birgit Malsack-Winkemann (born 12 August 1964) is a German

far-right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on the far end of the ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and former

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

, and had a main role in the uncovered

2022 German coup d'état plot On 7 December 2022, 25 members of a suspected far-right terrorist group were arrested for allegedly planning a coup d'état in Germany. The group, called (), which was led by a Council (), was a part of the German far-right extremist Reichsbü ...

of "Patriotic Union" group. She was a member of the 19th Bundestag from

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

to 2021 for the

Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (, AfD, ) is a Far-right politics in Germany (1945–present), far-right,Far-right: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Right-wing populism, right-wing populist and National conservatism, national-conservative p ...

(AfD), of which she has been a member since 2013. After losing re-election to the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

in 2021, Winkemann returned to her previous position as a judge in the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

regional court. On 7 December 2022, she was arrested during a large-scale raid against an alleged right-wing terrorist association with roots stemming from within the

Reichsbürger movement (; ) or (; ) are several Unrechtsstaat, anticonstitutional Historical revisionism, revisionist groups and individuals in Germany and elsewhere who reject the legitimacy of the History of Germany (1990-present), modern German state, the Germany ...

Biography

Malsack-Winkemann was born on 12 August 1964 in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

and studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is List ...

. From 2003 to 2017 Malsack-Winkemann worked as a

in the state of

. In 2013 she joined the newly founded AfD and became a member of the Bundestag in 2017. In June 2021 she was nominated in 5th position on the AfD state candidate list for

, after she lost against Georg Pazderski - with the state party only winning 3 proportionally allocated seats, she lost re-election. She has been a member of the AfD's party Court of Arbitration since June 2022. Malsack-Winkemann has two children.

December 2022 arrest

In the morning of 7 December 2022, she was arrested for her alleged involvement with a group of right-wing extremists connected to the

, which had planned a coup against the German government. She would have become the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

of the government which would be formed if they had managed to realise their plan. At a trial that started on 21 May 2024, Malsack-Winkemann and eight other defendants were charged with terrorism and high treason. The Public Prosecutor General (GBA) accuses Malsack-Winkeman, among other things, of having infiltrated other defendants into the Bundestag and scouting out the buildings with them. Malsack-Winkemann is said to have belonged to the so-called Council of the "Patriotic Union". According to the GBA, the group planned an armed storming of the Bundestag in order to arrest members of parliament and bring about a system overthrow. She denies the allegations and describes her role as insignificant.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malsack-Winkemann, Birgit Living people 1964 births Members of the Bundestag for Berlin Politicians from Darmstadt University of Bayreuth alumni Members of the Bundestag 2017–2021 Members of the Bundestag for the Alternative for Germany Female members of the Bundestag 21st-century German women politicians 20th-century German jurists Heidelberg University alumni Prisoners and detainees of Germany Far-right politics in Germany