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The “sovereign citizen” conspiracy theory advocates a complete rejection of the authority of the state. It originally comes from the USA, but is now also gaining in importance in Europe.
A video went viral on social media. It shows a French couple resisting a police check. The couple claims to be among the “sovereign citizens”.
«We’re not giving up! We don’t cooperate! I do not belong to the company of the French Republic. “I am subject to the jurisdiction of the Common Law Court!” it says in the video.
The couple’s argument is not convincing. The two are arrested by the police.
Conspiracy theory movement
The “Sovereign Citizens” are a conspiracy theory movement that emerged in the USA around 50 years ago. All countries are private companies, and the states set up a company in the name of each newborn in order to then “subjugate” them.
“In order to issue invoices and collect taxes, the countries are actually registered in the commercial register. And for this reason, these people think that states are companies like everyone else,” explains Pascal Wagner-Egger, scientist and specialist in conspiracy theories at the University of Freiburg, to RTS television in western Switzerland.
“In Europe or Switzerland they are more of a fringe phenomenon, but they exist and it is a pretty extreme conspiracy theory,” he adds.
Isolated acts of violence
For these “sovereign citizens” the state and its administration are illegal. You can then find options on the Internet to buy new ID cards in order to emancipate yourself from the state. An offer that is also available in Switzerland – for a fee.
This conspiracy theory has numerous excesses. In particular, racist and anti-Semitic splinter groups emerged from this movement.
Connection to the Reich citizens
Three years after she was kidnapped by her mother, young Mia was tracked down in Sainte-Croix (VD). Her mother supported this movement. “That was part of this woman’s ideology. And you also notice in the USA that this ideology can lead to violent behavior or murders because state violence is not given legitimacy,” explains Pascal Wagner-Egger.
In the United States, the number of followers of this conspiracy theory has more than tripled since 2010. Some of them took part in the storming of the Capitol in January 2021.
Better known in Switzerland are the Reichsbürger, some of whom planned a coup in Germany. They are also connected to the “sovereign citizens”.