The federal prosecutor’s office will take over the investigation into attacks on Jewish institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia. A spokeswoman for the Karlsruhe authority did not give an exact time for this on Thursday. The specific reason why the Federal Public Prosecutor General is taking over the case also initially remained open. Several media had reported on it. Iran is apparently the focus of the investigation.
In the night of November 18, at least three shots were fired at the former rabbi’s house at the old synagogue in Essen. On the same night, a 35-year-old German-Iranian is said to have carried out an arson attack on the Hildegardis school in Bochum. The school is directly adjacent to a synagogue.
According to the public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf, the suspect, who has both nationalities, is said to have tried in mid-November to recruit an accomplice for an arson attack on the synagogue in Dortmund. This attack failed. The German-Iranian is in custody.
Evidence of Iranian involvement
According to information from the ARD political magazine contrasts investigators have indications that he was in contact with a man named Ramin Y. Ramin Y. is, among other things, the founder of the Mönchengladbach branch of the Hells Angels – and is wanted with an international arrest warrant.
Noisy contrasts the security authorities assume that Y. is in charge of an “operational command” for attacks in Germany for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The magazine quotes an anonymous investigator as saying: “We’re talking about state terrorism here.”
The defense attorney for the 35-year-old German-Iranian, who is in custody, criticized the investigators last week. “The arrest warrant is relatively thin. It is based on a witness,” said Dortmund lawyer Jörg Tigges. In addition, he and his client only found out about further investigations against him from the press. From a constitutional point of view, he considers this approach to be difficult. “Obviously everyone here knows everything – except for the accused and his defense attorney.” The lawyer did not comment on the allegations.
Increased police presence in front of Jewish institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia
A few days ago, NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) said in a special session of the Interior Committee in the Düsseldorf state parliament: “We pulled a suspected perpetrator out of circulation. We don’t yet know whether there is a group behind it.”
Meanwhile, the police increased their presence in front of many Jewish institutions in North Rhine-Westphalia. The protection of Jewish buildings and people had already been increased immediately after the attack in Essen. “Due to the overall development and the (…) investigation results”, the protective measures have now been “adapted nationwide”, said the NRW Ministry of the Interior on Wednesday.
According to Reul, the number of anti-Semitic crimes recorded in NRW has been stagnating for years. Since 2017 it has been between 280 and 350. However, the minister also pointed out a large number of unreported cases, which are currently being examined in a scientific study.