A German military officer is on trial for allegedly impersonating a Syrian refugee and plotting far-right terrorist attacks against politicians.

The cop, known only as Lt Franco A and based in France, lived an unusual double life, registering as a refugee named David Benjamin.

In 2017, he was apprehended while attempting to recover a handgun discovered by a cleaner in a Vienna airport bathroom.

The soldier claims he was not an extremist and had no plans to carry out attacks.

The surnames of defendants are not made public in Germany due to privacy laws.

 

His lawyer denounced a smear campaign against him, and the officer told reporters he was going to court "with a clear conscience: I never expected anything to harm anybody."

His double life was revealed when authorities found that the soldier's fingerprints in Strasbourg matched those he had used to register as a Syrian Christian asylum seeker in Frankfurt, three hours north.