Outdoor pools should be a place to cool down. In some Berlin outdoor pools, however, tempers have been heating up lately. On Sunday, a man was injured in the Prinzenbad in Berlin-Kreuzberg while trying to separate two arguing teenagers. The man sustained injuries to his head and upper body. He was taken to the hospital but was later released, a police spokeswoman said on Monday. One suspect was arrested and another identified.
The identification requirement that has been in force since last Saturday could have contributed to the quick success of the search. After several incidents of violent clashes, entry to Berlin’s outdoor pools is only possible with an ID card.
If you attack people at noon in the outdoor pool, you have to sit in front of the judge in the evening
However, the provisional CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann believes that the obligation to provide ID does not go far enough. At the weekend he called for the consistent punishment of violent offenders on the day of the crime. He expects “quite simply” the “enforcement of our laws,” Linnemann said picture on sunday. “Fast trials are needed against violent criminals, and the judicial system must be organized accordingly.” Anyone who attacks people in the outdoor pool at noon must sit in front of the judge in the evening and be sentenced. “Even on weekends.” The Code of Criminal Procedure provides that. The penalty must also be fully exhausted, up to and including imprisonment.
The German Association of Judges objected that this could not be done without additional staff. “It’s not very convincing when politicians call for a strong rule of law with a determined pose on Sunday, but don’t do enough for it from Monday to Saturday,” said federal manager Sven Rebehn. Anyone who publicly calls for speedy criminal prosecution must then also better staff the judiciary.
The Code of Criminal Procedure enables public prosecutors to apply for a decision in expedited proceedings if the case is suitable for immediate hearing on the basis of clear evidence. In the case of crimes committed over a weekend, however, in some places a judge is not always available. The summary court may sentence the accused to a maximum of one year imprisonment.
“If a criminal conviction fails because of this, it does more harm than good to the rule of law.”
The FDP-led Federal Ministry of Justice also reacted cautiously to Linnemann’s demand. In principle, the principle of acceleration applies to criminal proceedings, it said here. However, “cases with simple facts” and clear evidence are particularly suitable for the possibility of accelerated proceedings. “In confusing situations with many participants and contradicting statements, this procedure is fundamentally out of the question.” Such a situation, it was not said at the Buschmann home, should arise when there is a mass brawl in an open-air swimming pool. Accelerated procedures would also have to meet the requirements of the rule of law.
The FDP legal expert Stephan Thomae sees it similarly. “Of course, criminals have to be held accountable. The faster the better. However, shortening the procedures must not lead to a reduction in the minimum rule of law standards,” he told the SZ. “If a criminal conviction fails because of this, it does more harm than good to the rule of law.”
Linnemann’s demand followed several violent clashes in outdoor pools in Berlin-Neukölln and Kreuzberg. In mid-July, the Columbiabad in Neukölln was cleared again. After that the bath was closed for a week. Too many employees had called in sick. This Monday the bath opened again.
The leader of the Left Party, Janine Wissler, called Linnemann’s initiative populist. The problem for most people in districts like Berlin-Neukölln is “that there is no longer a swimming pool within reach, that many children can no longer swim,” she said in the ARD summer interview. “That’s a much bigger problem than the occasional brawl in outdoor pools.”
Dirk Wiese, deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD, also attested to Linnemann’s lack of knowledge of the rule of law. “For good reason, politicians don’t decide how quickly individual procedures have to run or who is punished and how, but rather the courts.”