extremism
Almost 3,700 crimes against politically active people
Nancy Faeser (SPD) wants to better protect the private addresses of local politicians. photo
© Jan Woitas/dpa
Attempts at intimidation, threats and violence: those who play politics often have a difficult time in Germany. The Interior Minister wants to stop the spiral of escalation – and has ideas on how this can be achieved.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser denounces the sharp increase in attacks against politically active people. Last year there were 3,691 Crimes against officials and elected officials as well as party representatives were recorded, 80 of which were violent crimes, the SPD politician wrote in a guest article for “Welt am Sonntag”.
In 2022 there were still 1994 crimes, 67 of which were violent crimes. “Those affected are threatened, their offices are attacked, their homes are besieged, their private property is damaged or destroyed.”
Germany is currently experiencing a dangerous escalation spiral of contempt for politics and aggressiveness, complained Faeser. “We have to stop this spiral.” On Tuesday she wants to present the statistics on politically motivated crime for 2023.
Perpetrators are “despicable criminals”
In particular, the minister recalled the attack in Dresden at the beginning of May on MEP Matthias Ecke (SPD), who was beaten to the hospital. “It was the sad culmination of the large number of intimidation attempts, threats and acts of violence in recent weeks. We must show unequivocally that the constitutional state will not tolerate this violence – not against the Greens, not against AfD politicians, not against representatives of any other party. “
The minister said the aim of the attacks was not just politics. The violence against volunteers or against police and rescue workers is also directed against the community. “The perpetrators celebrate themselves for their fight against a “system” that they despise. But they are and remain blunt violent offenders, despicable criminals.”
And that’s exactly how they have to be prosecuted, with high investigative pressure. This is primarily a question of resources. “We have strengthened the federal police by 1,000 officers every year. Some countries are also strengthening their authorities – that’s exactly what we need, in the police and also in the judiciary.”
Faeser presents various suggestions
Faeser emphasized that she is not interested in protecting certain groups of people better than others. “An assault is an assault and that applies equally to everyone.” But it is important, for example, to prevent threats from reaching the private doorsteps of local politicians. “Specifically tightened penalties make sense here. We are also changing the reporting law so that the private addresses of local politicians are protected.”
But more consistent law enforcement is now even more important. “If people who are threatened have the impression that filing a criminal complaint will not achieve anything and that they will not be prosecuted, then that is devastating.”