Authorities in Germany have apprehended an 87-year-old woman who had gone into hiding for months after being convicted and sentenced to prison for provocative posts published on social media against migrants and asylum seekers.
The pensioner was detained by police officers in Rothenburg on Monday and transferred to a correctional facility to serve her initial eight-month prison sentence.
The woman was convicted by a court in Verden last year for two Facebook posts that incited violence against newcomers to Germany, a ruling that was upheld on appeal by a second court in Rothenburg. The senior citizen was due to attend court but was a no-show and disappeared for several months.
She was eventually arrested this week at her home without resistance.
A police spokesperson did not divulge where the woman had been residing while evading the authorities.
A statement by the authorities described the woman as a “Reichsbürger,” a member of a right-wing extremist group and a repeat offender.
The Reichsbürgerbewegung movement does not recognize Germany as an independent state, believing it to be a construct created by the Allies after World War II. Its supporters call for the installation of Heinrich Instead, they wish to instate Heinrich XIII, a descendant of German royalty who has been accused of peddling anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, as the country’s leader.
Heinrich XIII was arrested by German Federal Police in December last year on suspicion of leading a failed coup d’état in the country.
