Germany Attacks on Politicians “We are experiencing an escalation of anti-democratic violence,” says Faeser
In response to the violent attack on SPD MEP Matthias Ecke in Dresden, the interior ministers of the federal government and the states want to consider tightening criminal law. This was the outcome of a virtual special session of the Interior Ministers’ Conference (IMK) on Tuesday, as announced by Brandenburg’s Interior Minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) in the evening. The ministers supported two initiatives from Bavaria and Saxony in the Federal Council. According to CDU politician Stübgen, the existing criminal law does not adequately address the threat to officeholders, but also to volunteers. He specifically mentioned assault and coercion as the key offenses. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser described the attack on Ecke as an “extremely brutal act of violence.” The number of attacks on elected officials had already increased by 53 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. “We, therefore, need a very clear stop signal.” If criminal law needs to be further tightened for this purpose, she will quickly discuss this with Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann.
The interior ministers also advocated for a Saxon Federal Council initiative, which the cabinet had only recently approved on Tuesday. At its core is a new criminal offense aimed at penalizing the manipulation of officeholders through political stalking. This is intended to protect decision-makers, especially at the local level, from threatening intrusions into their private lives. Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) wants to counteract the “brutalization in our society.” Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) stated, “We are experiencing an escalation of anti-democratic violence.” Police cannot be everywhere. “But they can adapt protection concepts.” Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU) described the hastily convened special IMK as a “strong signal.” It is important that the conference highlighted “the importance of consistent and swift prosecution,” the rigor of the rule of law is essential in the face of assaults. “It is also correct to examine tightening criminal law quickly in view of the new situation. Protecting our democracy is of paramount importance. Therefore, it is consistent to penalize attacks that target our democratic values more severely and to incorporate the reprehensible mindset underlying the acts into the sentencing,” he said to WELT. Poseck welcomed the ministers’ agreement on increased and situation-adapted police protection measures. It is clear, however, that the police cannot protect every politically engaged person and every campaign stand directly. “Therefore, a societal reversal is indispensable for us. We are determined to counteract the brutalization in our society and especially misinformation,” said Poseck. Therefore, the IMK called on the federal government to “take up the recent decision of the ECJ on the admissibility of the indiscriminate storage of IP addresses and to use them to combat politically motivated acts of violence and especially also to combat hate and incitement.” The storage of IP addresses in this regard would represent a “quantum leap in crime prevention,” he told WELT.
Faeser announces changes to the registration law
Federal Interior Minister Faeser announced that the government coalition would “soon amend the registration law” to better protect the residential addresses of, among others, local politicians. Already in the coalition agreement, the traffic light partners agreed, for example, to improve the application of information blocks in the registration register for people threatened by extremism and violence. In this way, people who volunteer should be protected from being visited and threatened at their place of residence.
The 41-year-old SPD politician Ecke was attacked by several people while putting up posters in Dresden on Friday evening and was so seriously injured that he had to undergo surgery. Police and public prosecutor’s office accuse four young Germans aged 17 and 18 of carrying out the attack. A 17-year-old is said to have connections to the right-wing extremist milieu. Shortly before the attack on Ecke, the same group allegedly injured a Green campaign assistant in the vicinity, according to the police. Over the weekend, an AfD politician was also attacked in Nordhorn, Lower Saxony.
