Germany Detains Two Leaders of Violent Brigade Nhamedu Movement Over Attacks on Eritrean Festivals
German authorities have detained two suspected leading members of the violent Brigade Nhamedu movement, accused of organizing attacks on Eritrean community events in western Germany as part of efforts to overthrow the government in Eritrea.
The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that the pair — an Eritrean national and a German national — face charges of membership in a domestic terrorist organization. They were taken into custody near Saarbrücken and in Stuttgart and will appear before an investigating judge at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe to decide on pre-trial detention.
Prosecutors say the German branch of the violent Brigade Nhamedu movement, known as Brigade N’Hamedu Germany, was founded in 2022 with the explicit goal of toppling Eritrea’s government. In Germany, members of the group are accused of carrying out violence at events organized by supporters of the Eritrean government in Giessen in the summers of 2022 and 2023, and at a seminar held by an Eritrean association in Stuttgart in September 2023.
Authorities stated that members of the violent Brigade Nhamedu movement treated attacks on German state institutions and police officers protecting the events as a legitimate tactic. Numerous officers were injured, some seriously, during the clashes.
The two detained men are alleged to have played key roles in building the structures of the German chapter of the violent Brigade Nhamedu movement and in organizing the violent actions. The Eritrean national reportedly served as secretary-general for a period, while the German national was the group’s first chairman.
The Giessen festivals were organized by the Central Council of Eritreans in Germany. The Eritrean government has rejected human-rights allegations against it as politically motivated.
In March 2025, German police searched 19 properties across the country in connection with the investigation into the violent Brigade Nhamedu movement, with additional raids in Denmark. No arrests were made at that time.