Status: 05/16/2022 2:22 p.m
After the allegedly foiled attack on a school in Essen, the Attorney General took over the investigation of the suspected high school student – and thus made the case a matter for the federal judiciary.
The Attorney General in Karlsruhe has started investigations into a youth who is said to have planned a bomb attack on a school in Essen. The reason is the “special significance of the crime,” said a spokeswoman for the federal prosecutor’s office.
A case receives such a status, for example, if it affects the population’s sense of security or has a political background. That is the prerequisite for the federal judiciary to deal with the case. This in turn has far-reaching consequences for the investigation.
What happens now?
The Attorney General is not only free to decide which police authority should conduct the investigation or provide support. He can also determine the competent court before which the case should be heard – should the federal prosecutor eventually indict.
The specific case would probably be a matter for the State Protection Senate of the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court. However, it is also conceivable that the federal prosecutor’s office will return the case to the state judiciary after its own investigations.
Proceedings under juvenile justice
In any case, however, it remains a procedure under juvenile criminal law. Because the student who is accused of an attempted attack on his school in Essen is 16 years old. In juvenile criminal law, the so-called educational concept determines the punishment. The processing of such a case is not entirely new for the federal prosecutor’s office, but it is anything but everyday.
Right-wing extremist motivated attack?
The 16-year-old is suspected of having prepared a right-wing extremist terrorist attack at his school. The teenager is already in custody on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the Düsseldorf public prosecutor.
The police had stormed his family’s apartment on Thursday morning after a witness and arrested him. The investigators came across right-wing extremist writings, bomb-making materials, a home-made rifle and crossbows with arrows. At the same time, there are indications of psychological problems in the young person.
With information from Holger Schmidt, ARD terrorism expert