German Citizen Arrested For Threatening To Kill Politicians Via Dark Web

Angela Merkel, is the target of murder on the dark web (photo: x @lesoir)

JAKARTA - German police have detained a dual Polish-German citizen suspected of managing a site on the dark web calling for the killing of a number of well-known politicians. This was said by the prosecutor on Tuesday, November 11.

According to prosecutors, the suspect, who was only identified as Martin S. in accordance with German privacy laws, asked for donations in the form of cryptocurrencies to pay execution' against those he had designated villary'.

Although authorities did not reveal the names of the targeted politicians or public figures, Der Spiegel magazine reported that Angela Merkel and Olaf Scholz's former chancellors, as well as several other former federal ministers, were included in the list.

The suspect was arrested in the western German city of Dortmund on Monday night, November 10. He is now facing charges of serious crimes against the state. Prosecutors have not disclosed their motives and did not mention any alleged involvement of foreign actors.

The site on the dark web cannot be accessed through ordinary browsers without special software also contains explosives manufacturing instructions and sensitive personal information about potential victims.

According to prosecutors, the site has been operating since at least June 2025. The suspect will be presented with the investigating judge today, who will decide whether a detention warrant will be issued," the prosecutor's office said in an official statement on Tuesday.

German politicians have long complained about the increase in attacks, both verbally and physically, amid the country's increasingly sharp political polarization.

In addition, cyber threats to Germany and other Western countries are also increasing.

In a separate report released on the same day, Germany's cybersecurity agency (Bundesamt f\"ur Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik/BSI) warned that many companies and institutions still not adequately protect themselves from cyber attacks.

According to BSI, around the time of the national elections in February 2025, the number of Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks jumped by 52%, with Russia being named as one of the main sources of the attack.