Germany: 8 convicted over illegal data center in bunker

BERLIN (AP) — A German court has convicted eight people over their role in a data processing center installed at a former military bunker that hosted sites dealing in drugs and other illegal activities. The data center at the former NATO bunker in Traben-Trarbach, a picturesque town on the Mosel River in western Germany, was raided and shut down in September 2019. It was set up as what investigators described as a “bulletproof hoster,” meant to conceal illicit activities from authorities’ eyes. The state court in nearby Trier convicted all eight defendants of forming and membership in a criminal organization.  However, they were all acquitted of being accessories to some 250,000 crimes allegedly committed via the websites the data center hosted.