The President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution warns of an ongoing threat from Islamic State terrorism.
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| [Radicalisation in prison] |
The President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution sees risk not just from Islamists, but also from violent right-wing radicals and critics of the Corona measures.
Before the fifth anniversary of the Islamist assault on Berlin's Breitscheidplatz Christmas market, Thomas Haldenwang, President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), warned of the continued threat of jihadist violence. Haldenwang told the Funke media group's publications that many of the imprisoned members of the "Islamic State" (IS) organization were "radicalized in jail, too."
"We need to know what is going on in the jails, which people are still radicalized," he told the publications, referring to the fact that many IS returnees would be freed after serving their terms in 2022. "The preservation of the constitution is requested to investigate each particular case."
The Taliban's assumption of power in Afghanistan, according to intelligence authorities, has reinforced the Islamist scene in Germany. "From a propaganda standpoint, it leads to a boost," said the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Funke publications. "One rejoices in the ostensible 'win' against the kuffar, the unbelievers."
Anis Amri, an Islamist, drove a hijacked vehicle into the Christmas market on the evening of December 19, 2016. Dozens of individuals were murdered and injured. According to a recent Konrad Adenauer Foundation report, Islamist assaults in Germany have decreased since then. Other radical dangers, on the other hand, have grown.
Opponents of the corona measures pose a threat
Haldenwang views right-wing radicals and opponents of the Corona measures as a threat. "No possibility can be ruled out with violence-oriented right-wing radicals and in the radicalized Corona protest atmosphere," Haldenwang stated. It makes a difference to talk about violence and to commit it, according to the head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. "However, consider the homicide in Idar-Oberstein, when someone grabbed a pistol and shot another person in a petrol station."
Such "irrational eruptions of violence out of sentiments of wrath or impotence" are "not implausible in the future either," he believes. The scene's radicalism has expanded "significantly." Large demonstrations, like as those in Berlin and Stuttgart, have dominated the last year. "We witness a significant number of protests, dispersed across the board, frequently unexpected, appearing spontaneous," says one observer.
"Right-wing radicals' formative impact"
Attempts by right-wing radicals to seize the anti-corona protests last year were "without resounding success," Haldenwang claimed. This is no longer the case. "We observe right-wing radicals having a formative impact selectively and in particular locations," claimed the BfV President.
The chief of the secret service is particularly concerned about the growing number of attacks on police personnel and journalists. He also observes intimidation of "political decision-makers and an exceptional brutalization of the discourse in social media: from violent fantasies to death threats, which are directed not just at politicians but also at scientists and physicians."
Source: AFP