BBC News reported Peter Fitzek went on trial in Düsseldorf accused of leading a criminal organisation.

Leading a criminal organisation, on BBC News, and membership in a criminal organization, on DW, are not the same charge name. Denies committing a crime, and a rejection of the tax-evasion accusation, are not the same denial. About 6,000 members, on BBC News, and about 1,000 followers, on DW, are not the same number. tagesschau says the group claimed about 6,000 and the security authorities estimated about 1,000. BBC News says he denies committing a crime.

BBC News, by Bethany Bell, published at 11:52 GMT on November 6, 2026, and updated at 16:16 GMT, reported a self-declared king of Germany has gone on trial in Düsseldorf accused of leading a criminal organisation, along with three other men described as his senior subjects. It reported Peter Fitzek, 61, calls himself Peter the First, and that he denies committing a crime. It identified the three other men only as Benjamin M, Mathias B, and Martin S, and it reported they face up to 10 years in prison. It reported that, speaking just before the trial began, he criticised his detention: "They are isolating me completely." It reported that in 2025 Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt banned the Kingdom of Germany, and that Fitzek and the other three suspects were taken into custody. In 2025, in that sentence, and May 2025, in the image caption on the same page, are not the same date. The caption says the charges are leading a criminal organisation, tax evasion, and other financial offences. The body says further charges include organised forgery and tax evasion amounting to millions of euros. Other financial offences, and organised forgery, are not the same charge words. It reported prosecutors accuse the group of founding the kingdom to replace the system of the Federal Republic of Germany, and that the organisation operated a banking and insurance system with branches in Dresden, Ulm, Menden, and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, plus a registration office that issued fake identity documents and its own currency. It reported that in five years up to 2025 the group is alleged to have taken in about €10 million, which the page also printed as £8.25m, through unauthorised banking and insurance transactions and through donations, gifts, and fee-based seminars. It reported those revenues were not declared and that no income tax or social security contributions were paid for employees. It stated the kingdom had around 6,000 members. Around 6,000, as a figure the story states, is not the same as a claim the group made.

DW, bylined Alex Berry and Natalie Muller with Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa, published November 6, 2026, and last updated November 6, 2026, with no clock, carries two tenses on the same page. A morning item says four alleged ringleaders are expected to appear before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court, that the group was banned in May 2025, and that the four, including Peter Fitzek, have been held in pre-trial detention since then. A later item says he complained in court about being called by his civilian name and insisted on being called "Peter I, head of state." Expected to appear, and standing in the trial, are both on that page. They are not the same status. Peter I, on DW, and Peter the First, on BBC News, are not the same styling. DW says they have been charged with membership in a criminal organization and other offenses, including document forgery and tax evasion amounting to millions of euros. Membership, on DW, and leading, on BBC News, are not the same charge name. Document forgery, and organised forgery, are not the same words. DW does not print an age, a 10-year maximum, €10 million, or the three initials. It says the group is estimated to have had around 1,000 followers when it was banned. Around 1,000, on DW, and around 6,000, on BBC News, are not the same number. It says Chief prosecutor Ingo Kaiser said the kingdom was set up in opposition to the German republic. It says lawyer Christin Konrad used her opening statement to say a prayer for "the truth to come to light and for freedom and love to win." A caption on the same page spells the name Kindgom. Kindgom, and Kingdom, are not the same spelling. DW does not print a denial in the items read here.

tagesschau, by Manuela Klüppel, is a German-language story marked 06.11.2026 at 05:12. The body says the trial at the Oberlandesgericht Düsseldorf began Friday with Fitzek giving a short press conference in the courtroom, first statements and then questions. A page marked 05:12, and a body that describes the Friday opening, are both on that page. A press conference in the courtroom as the trial began, and a criticism of detention spoken just before the trial, on BBC News, are not the same setting. It says he rejected the tax-evasion accusation and said he could instead demand 500,000 euros from the Federal Republic if he wanted to. A rejection of the tax-evasion accusation, and a denial of committing a crime, are not the same denial. It says he is 61 and that the federal prosecutor accuses him, as founder, of having led a criminal organization. Led, in that German account, membership, on DW, and leading a criminal organisation, on BBC News, are three charge lines. It says that when his personal details were read he said he was a citizen of the Kingdom of Germany and that his name was Peter the First, in the function of head of state. It says a defense lawyer began to pray. It does not print the lawyer's name and it does not print the prayer DW quoted. Christin Konrad, on DW, and an unnamed defense lawyer, on tagesschau, are not the same identification. It says the defense argues the case is being tried as a state-protection case and should be an economic crime in another court, and that a prior conviction over banking business was overturned. BBC News and DW do not print that argument in the pages read here. It says the indictment describes a bank, an insurance system, and registration offices in Dresden, Ulm, Menden, and Wittenberg. Wittenberg, on tagesschau, and Lutherstadt Wittenberg, on BBC News, are not the same place name. It says Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt banned the group in May 2025, that the group itself claimed about 6,000 followers, and that the security authorities estimated about 1,000. That pair is the conflict between the BBC News figure and the DW figure. It says that between 2020 and 2025 the group took in about 10 million euros, including unauthorized banking and insurance, donations, and seminars, and that more than 2 million euros in taxes were evaded. Donations and seminars, on tagesschau, and donations, gifts, and fee-based seminars, on BBC News, are not the same list. More than 2 million euros is tagesschau's tax figure. Millions, on BBC News and on DW, is not that figure. It says an own currency, the E-Mark or Neue Deutsche Mark, equaled 1.10 euros, according to the federal prosecutor. It says 52 hearing days are scheduled through September 2027 at a secured external site of the court. BBC News and DW do not print that calendar. The charges are the accusation. They are not a judgment in this trial. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.