The investigations against a 20-year-old man from Northern Hesse, who is accused of preparing a terrorist attack, have expanded.

The public prosecutor's offices in Frankfurt and Kassel are investigating the carpenter's apprentice Marvin E. not only because of the preparation of a criminal offense dangerous to the state, but also because of the violation of the Explosives and Weapons Act, and also because of the suspicion of the distribution and acquisition of child pornographic material Suspicion of a violation of the Narcotics Act.

Hesse's Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU) announced this on Thursday in the interior committee of the Hessian state parliament.

Accordingly, the proceedings are now also being investigated against other people.

Julian Staib

Political correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, based in Wiesbaden.

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E. was arrested on September 16 in the small town of Spangenberg.

During the subsequent search, the investigators found around 600 self-made "small explosive devices", booby traps and a racist manifesto, according to the prosecutor.

The investigators had become aware of E. because of chats in which he is said to have commented on difficulties in obtaining weapons.

The advice came from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

According to Beuth, there was no danger to the population at any time.

The minister did not answer questions from the opposition, such as how this could have been the case in view of the large number of explosive devices, with reference to the ongoing investigation.

The arrested person ran as a non-party candidate in the local elections in March for the CDU's list in Spangenberg, but he was not elected. This had become known through press reports. Interior Minister Beuth, who is himself a member of the presidium of the state CDU, had already informed the chairmen of the interior committee about the case on September 20, shortly after the arrest, but not about the accused's party membership. The domestic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group in the Hessian state parliament, Stefan Müller, criticized this. Torsten Felstehausen, domestic policy spokesman for the Left, said that apparently two weeks before the federal election the public was "deliberately" not informed. Beuth rejected the allegations. The "closeness to the CDU" "played no role" for the information procedure,the public prosecutor has the authority to provide information in the ongoing proceedings.