After the suspected Islamist-motivated attack at Berlin's Christopher Street Day (CSD), politicians from Germany's conservative Union bloc are calling for a fundamentally different approach to handling designated security threats ("Gefährder") and Islamists. "We have to respond to this, and fundamentally so," Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder (CSU) said on Monday. He said the classification of a person as a security threat must carry different legal consequences in Germany than it has so far.
On the edge of Berlin's CSD event on Saturday evening, a suspected Islamist-motivated attack took place: 21-year-old Abdul B. drove a car into a crowd of people and then attacked others with a bladed weapon. One woman died, and 29 other people were injured, some critically. Police shot the suspect dead on Sunday evening. He had been classified as a security threat but was at large, since he was being prosecuted under juvenile criminal law.
Söder raised the question of whether "adult criminal law should generally apply" to individuals classified as security threats, and whether detention should become the rule rather than the exception. He also called for citizenship law to be put up for debate: someone classified as a security threat, he said, should not be able to permanently hold dual citizenship.
Without German citizenship, Söder stressed, a security threat could be deported immediately. "I consider it absolutely necessary to consider all of these things."
Marc Henrichmann (CDU), who chairs the Bundestag's committee overseeing Germany's intelligence services, expressed similar views in an interview with "Handelsblatt": "The civil liberties of extremists and Islamists known to the courts must no longer be overstated once life and limb are at risk." He said that in the case of a concrete and significant danger, protecting the population must take "the very highest priority."
Saxony-Anhalt's State Premier Sven Schulze (CDU) likewise called for tougher consequences in dealing with radicalized individuals. "When you see this, you really have to ask yourself: why was this person at large?" he said on Deutschlandfunk radio.
Alexander Throm (CDU), the Union parliamentary group's domestic policy spokesman, also demanded a harder line. There must be "no leniency whatsoever" for followers of Islamist ideology, he told "Handelsblatt." He said this must be reflected in the handling of detention, preventive detention and deportation custody. "The rule must be: when in doubt, prioritize the safety of the population."
Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) said he intends to examine additional measures but wants to wait for further investigation results first. "It is still too early to answer the question of what political consequences we should draw from this brutal attack," he said in Berlin. "What is clear, though, is that it cannot stop at mere statements," he added.
"We will have to respond with prudence, but also with determination," Merz announced. Above all, he said, the question that needs answering is "how it can be that a man classified this way here in Berlin was able to move unhindered near the Christopher Street Day on Saturday evening."
Germany's Federal Ministry of Justice is likewise examining possible consequences, though a ministry spokesperson also warned against hasty action. "It is still too early for a final assessment of whether legislative action is needed," the spokesperson said, adding that tightened criminal law provisions closing legal loopholes had only come into force in April.
The German Bar Association (DAV) responded with skepticism to calls for tightening juvenile criminal law. Such calls are understandable, DAV Vice President Sonka Mehner told the "Augsburger Allgemeine" (Tuesday edition). "Whether this would actually prevent comparable acts in the future is another question."
Before any change to juvenile criminal law, she said, it must be "carefully examined whether there is actually a gap in the legislation, or whether this is a tragic individual case." Mehner stressed: "Criminal law should not be changed under the impact of individual, particularly shocking events." The Federal Ministry of Justice pointed to an already-planned scientific study evaluating juvenile criminal law.
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