terrorism
Concerns and warnings in the case of young terror suspects
Four young people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg are said to have planned an Islamist terrorist attack. The Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating. photo
© Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
Four young people from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg are said to have planned an Islamist terrorist attack. Reminders and appeals also come from the police unions.
Police unions have investigated the case of the four young terror suspects from North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Württemberg described it as worrying and called for vigilance. The four minors are said to have prepared an Islamist terrorist attack “in accordance with the goals and ideology of the Islamic State (IS)” and have been in custody since Easter, as the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday. The German Police Union (DPolG) now spoke of a particularly worrying case.
The suspects do not correspond to the prevailing image of suspected extremists with an Islamist background, i.e. around 30 years old, male and possibly battle-hardened, said DPolG federal chairman Rainer Wendt to the German Press Agency on Saturday. Rather, they are “young people who live normally among us and belong to us.”
Everyone in society should be aware of the threat that Islamists are deliberately trying to recruit young people to their terrorist goals online, said Wendt. And everyone – parents, teachers, friends, acquaintances – should pay attention, he appealed.
Federal Interior Minister Faeser reacts in horror
The state chairman of the police union in North Rhine-Westphalia, Michael Mertens, said: “No matter what age or gender, terror must be taken seriously.” And he warned: “No one should say it was just young people.” The public prosecutor’s office said at the weekend that it would not provide any information about the progress of the ongoing investigation.
According to NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU), those arrested are a 15-year-old from Düsseldorf, a 15-year-old from Lippstadt, a 16-year-old from Iserlohn and a 16-year-old from Ostfildern in Baden-Württemberg. According to the investigators, they are said to have agreed to commit a crime – murder and manslaughter – “in conjunction with the preparation of a serious act of violence that would endanger the state.” According to the minister, it can be assumed that the Internet played a role in their radicalization. Investigators have warned that Islamist influencers are now particularly targeting young people.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reacted with horror to the alleged terrorist plans. The SPD politician told the “Rheinische Post” (Saturday) that it was “shocking” that children and young people had become so massively radicalized and were apparently pursuing Islamist terrorist plans. “Once again we see the high Islamist threat level – and once again our security authorities have shown their high level of vigilance and intervened at an early stage.”
Also arrests in Switzerland
In Switzerland, security authorities also arrested three young people aged 15, 16 and 18. According to Schaffhausen public prosecutor Peter Sticher, it is specifically about the planning of explosive attacks in Switzerland. The detainees are accused of criminal acts of preparation for intentional killing and of supporting the banned terrorist organization IS. The three young men were arrested on the Easter weekend. The aim of the investigation is to clarify the exact intentions of the two accused, as the authorities announced on Saturday. In addition, any connections to the cases in Germany would be examined, it was said.