The right-wing conspiracy narrator Attila Hildmann, who is wanted with an arrest warrant, has been tracked down in Turkey according to a media report. After months of research, a group of amateur detectives and reporters from the magazine "Stern" found Hildmann in the city of Kartepe, around 100 kilometers east of Istanbul, and spoke to him, according to the magazine's report. A video showed the encounter.
The leader of the hobby investigators immediately informed the German consulate general in Istanbul after the encounter and gave the federal police Hildmann's address and the number plate of his car, according to "Stern".
Not a Turkish citizen
The Berlin public prosecutor's office declined to comment on the case yesterday. Recently it became known that Hildmann only has German citizenship. The Berlin public prosecutor had long assumed that he also had Turkish citizenship and would therefore not be extradited. Hildmann's actual status has been known since April, and the search for the international arrest warrant has been expanded, according to the public prosecutor's office.
In the film about the meeting of reporters and researchers with Hildmann on "Stern TV", when asked if the Turkish authorities knew where he lived and whether he was protected by them, Hildmann said: "Of course. (...) That looks man, I live freely here." When asked if he had a Turkish passport, he answered twice with the sentence: "I am Turkish." Otherwise, he continued to talk about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
It is not known whether the federal government has since submitted an extradition request to Turkey. According to media reports, the Federal Criminal Police Office, the Federal Office of Justice, the Foreign Office and the Turkish authorities are said to be involved. Hildmann was born in West Berlin to Turkish parents but grew up with German adoptive parents.
Propagator of far-right conspiracy theories
According to the report, Hildmann, who became known as a vegan cookbook author and then spread far-right conspiracy theories, has lived in the city of Kartepe since the summer of this year. He had previously lived in Gömec, a coastal town in western Turkey, since autumn 2021.
The 13 amateur detectives called themselves "Hildbusters" (Hildmannhunters) - after the Hollywood film "Ghostbusters". Hildmann fled to Turkey in December 2020 and was wanted with an international arrest warrant from February 2021. The group therefore researched very long and laboriously on the Internet and in chat channels and analyzed videos and photos posted by Hildmann in order to track him down. The “Stern” accompanied the group, researched according to its own account at the same time and got into its isolated chat group.
The public prosecutor's office has long been investigating Hildmann, who describes himself as "ultra-right" and a conspiracy preacher, for incitement to hatred, suspected public incitement to commit crimes and resistance to the police.
