'QAnon insider' arrested after Philippines raid | indy100

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A German far-right conspiracy theorist has been arrested in the Philippines for allegedly inciting followers to kill politicians.

On Wednesday, Oliver Janich, a popular far-right conspiracy theorist in the German-speaking world was arrested following a raid at his home in Tablas Islands, Philippines.

Janich has more than 150,000 followers on Telegram and is considered extremely influential, according to Vice.

Janich, 53, found much of his influence during the pandemic when conspiracy theories surged although he had reportedly been following far-right ideology for many years, including QAnon.

According to Vice, the Philippine National Police said Munich issued a warrant for Janich's arrest in April for "public incitement to commit criminal offences".

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"There is a suspicion that the accused insulted another person in 2020 and 2021 - in each case publicly via Telegram - called for the execution of a prominent person and demanded the killing of former government members of the federal and state governments in the Federal Republic of Germany," a Munich public prosecutor told SPIEGEL.

Following his arrest, followers of Janich took to Telegram and other social media channels to call for his freedom.

\u201c@OliverJanich @OliverJanich is Europe's greatest freedom fighter and truth seeking investigative journalist. He woke up millions of Germans. I have been working with him for the past four years as we co-founded the German CryptoSpace magazine.\n\nhttps://t.co/JvmvCCnjd3\u201d
— Matthias Sch\u00f6nebeck | zeos.one (@Matthias Sch\u00f6nebeck | zeos.one) 1660760922

Although the Philippines has no extradition treaty with Germany, they have previously deported another German wanted by authorities in Berlin.

Admins of Janich's Telegram channel reportedly shared a statement from Janich to a far-right news outlet according to Vice.

“The problem is: if they deport me, I am not allowed back and my fiancée is pregnant,” Janich was quoted as saying.

According to Spiegel, Janich told followers during 2020 that they needed to "shoot all members of the government". His YouTube channel was banned that same year.

Some of the other conspiracy theories Janich has shared include those surrounding 9/11, the New World Order, and many with anti-Semitic messages.

Janich was also let go from his job as a financial journalist for Focus Money after encouraging readers to buy a stock while holding shares in the advertising company. He was fined by the Munich authorities for market manipulation.

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