Tougher penalties for knife attacks and more frequent use of ankle tags for people considered security threats: Following the attack on Christopher Street Day (CSD) in Berlin, the federal government approved a ten-point plan on Wednesday to strengthen protection against Islamist terrorism. Alongside tougher penalties, the plan also calls for the criminal offence of distributing propaganda materials to be expanded and for the collection of donations for terrorist purposes to be punished more severely.
The “brutal attack on the Berlin CSD” had once again shown that violent Islamism was a “really serious threat”, Federal Justice Minister Hubig said at a press conference with Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU). Following its approval by the Cabinet, the plan will now go to parliamentary deliberations.
To monitor people considered security threats and prevent terrorist attacks, “stronger use of ankle tags” should be enabled, Dobrindt said.
The federal government also wants to push for greater use of preventive detention for people considered security threats. To this end, it wants to advocate “uniform, effective standards at federal and state level”, according to the ten-point plan.
To identify and investigate threats at an early stage, the federal states are also to be authorised, on a case-by-case basis, to have “relevant” telecommunications data secured “in order to prevent its loss and enable subsequent collection”, the plan states.
Knife attacks are to be upgraded to felonies and could then be punished with at least one year in prison. “Anyone who attacks people with knives in the future must expect to be punished with at least one year of imprisonment,” Dobrindt said. Such attacks are currently classified as misdemeanours when they do not result in serious bodily injuries.
Hubig wants to “tighten up” efforts to combat the distribution of propaganda materials for the Islamic State. She said there had repeatedly been uncertainty in this area. The criminal offence covering the use of symbols of terrorist organisations is therefore to be expanded.
A new criminal offence is also to be created for so-called donation collectors. “Anyone who collects donations for terrorist purposes is to become criminally liable in the future before contact with terrorist groups has been established or funds have been transferred,” the ten-point plan states.
When decisions are made on suspended sentences, the security interests of the general public are also to be given greater consideration. “In the end, probation must not come at the expense of the security interests of the population,” Hubig stressed.
The flow of information between security authorities and the justice system is also to be improved for the purpose of preventing threats. If security authorities have important information about whether a person poses a danger, whether a person has become radicalised and is prepared to use violence, then such information must also be made available to the justice system, Hubig emphasised.
The minister also announced changes to juvenile criminal law. “This is not soft justice, even if that impression sometimes arises,” she said. Long prison sentences and far-reaching measures are already possible today, she said. Nevertheless, adjustments are necessary. In future, criminal proceedings involving terrorist offences committed by juveniles and young adults are to take place before specialised juvenile lay judge courts and juvenile chambers.
Finally, the package also includes measures to strengthen prevention. These include greater responsibility for digital platforms regarding extremist content, educational work using digital services provided by the Federal Agency for Civic Education, and “social prevention in Muslim communities”. Natalie Pawlik, the federal government’s Commissioner for Migration, Refugees and Integration, referred to “Digital Streetwork” as an approach in which trained social workers are active on online platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, Reddit and Twitch.
The German Association of Judges (DRB) welcomed the ten-point plan. It brought together “sensible measures that improve the protection of the population without going beyond the limits of the rule of law”, DRB Federal Managing Director Sven Rebehn told the AFP news agency. This applied, for example, to closing gaps in criminal liability under anti-terrorism law and expanding the options available to courts in juvenile criminal proceedings.
The Greens’ domestic policy spokesman, Marcel Emmerich, criticised the fact that the central question surrounding the CSD attack remained unanswered: “Why was a person known to the authorities and under surveillance able to commit this act?” AfD leader Alice Weidel described the federal government’s ten-point plan as a “damning admission of a failed migration policy”.
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