| Anna on Fri, 31 Aug 2007 13:27:44 +0200 (CEST) |
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| <nettime> News from Berlin on the case against Andrej Holm |
Hi, great news: The Federal Court of Justice has decided yesterday not to decide this week about the prosecutors complaint against the temporary release from custody. Instead the judges seem to have realised that a much more important issue is at stake: the question whether section 129a, the terrorism law, applies at all. Not only for Andrej's case (and the other 6 concerned), but it is thinkable that this is going to turn into a fundamental decision on the definition of 'terrorism' and whether arson without hurting human beings can be 'terrorist'. This is a great step for humanity (or may be) and at the same time will be a very scary time for our family, and friends. I'm sending you some English language material: an article from this week's Der Spiegel (Germany's most influential weekly magazine), a press release commenting on yesterday's court decision, a link to two shows on National Public Radio and Free Speech Radio Network. There's more at the English language section of http://einstellung.so36.net/en Please consider subscribing to our English language newsletter - just send an empty email to [email protected]. Also we continue to depend on donations - please keep pointing people to http://einstellung.so36.net/en/donations. For donations from outside Europe we are trying to find an easier way than the typical European money transfer: please contact [email protected] for details. Anna _________________ http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,502178,00.html IVORY TOWER ARSON ARREST Berlin Struggles to Define 'Terror' By Caroline Schmidt and Dietmar Hipp Just what who is a terrorist? It is a question Germany is wrestling with after a Berlin sociology professor was imprisoned for terrorism after allegedly helping leftists torch cars. Forty-year-old Berlin lawyer Christina Clemm was just 10 during the so-called German Autumn of 1977: Her recollections of the historic showdown between the German state and its enemies, the left-wing underground organization known as the Red Army Faction or "Baader-Meinhof Gang," are vague. But when Clemm visited her client, 36-year-old Andrej H., in Berlin's Moabit prison early last week, the atmosphere there was reminiscent of those dark years of leftist terrorism. The lawyer was only allowed to shake her client's hand in the presence of a prison guard. A plate of bullet-proof glass an inch thick separated them during their conversation. In addition, Clemm's mail was intercepted. Andrej H. told her he was being held in solitary confinement 23 hours a day. He was only allowed out for exercise for one hour a day with two other prisoners. He is being held under paragraph 129a of German criminal law -- the paragraph that deals with terrorism. And yet the academic -- who holds a Ph.D. in sociology, lectures at Humboldt University in Berlin and has three children -- is not even a prime suspect in the arson investigation that led to his arrest, according to the warrant. The federal prosecutor's office believes H. and an academic from Leipzig are the intellectual leaders of the left-wing "militante gruppe" (mg), a left-wing faction which has allegedly been responsible for about 25 arson attacks since 2001. Three other men from Berlin have also been detained. They were seen trying to place incendiary devices underneath trucks belonging to the German military. How Far Can the State Go? The move by the investigators to use all severity in dealing with such a case is very likely a precedent -- and seems destined to trigger a debate as to the appropriateness of the approach. The central questions are clear: In the age of bloody suicide attacks, what constitutes terrorism? And: How far can the state go? More than 3,000 supporters, including academics from Germany and the United States, have signed a letter of protest "Against the Criminalization of Critical Science." Last week, renowned US sociologists Saskia Sassen and Richard Sennett published an article called "Guantánamo in Germany" in the British Guardian, in which they write: "We are struck by the gray zones of fragile civil liberties and confused state power that this case reveals." The German Green Party has already said that Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries has some explaining to do and has promised to pursue the issue in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag. Green Party Floor Leader Renate Künast has criticized the investigation as "lacking a legal basis." Former Bundestag Vice President Burkhard Hirsch, of the liberal Free Democrats, spoke of an inappropriate attempt to turn small militant groups into terrorists. "Torching a car is no small offense," was the brusque retort of Dieter Wiefelspütz, the domestic policy spokesman for the Social Democrats. One could very well speak of terrorism in such a case, Wiefelspütz added. The bitter debate comes four years after a 2003 legal reform pushed through by the government of then Chancellor Gerhard Schröder which introduced new guidelines for the prosecution of terrorist acts. Coming not long after the al-Qaida attacks in the US, the reform took aim at international terrorist organizations -- and made the prosecution of those groups much easier. At the same time, Schröder's SPD and his coalition partners the Greens wanted to limit the application of terror laws -- originally passed to deal with Red Army Faction attacks in the 1970s -- domestically. There were also European Union guidelines to take into consideration. Arson as Terror Ever since, arson has only been punishable as terrorism when carried out with the intention of "significantly intimidating the population" or "eliminating or seriously damaging the foundations of a state or an international organization." Moreover, attacks need to be capable of causing "considerable" damage to the state. Jerzy Montag, one of the Green Party's legal experts, praised the new law at the time by pointing out that it makes it impossible to prosecute "every little thing" as a case of terrorism. But how do you know when a state is severely damaged? Is every politically motivated crime equal to terrorism, or should the case of Andrej H. be approached solely as attempted arson? A lack of case law means that an authoritative answer to these questions does not yet exist. The only relevant court decision was handed down by the Federal Court of Justice in its decision that the "pinprick tactic" of right-wing arsonists can be defined as terrorism -- because right-wing arsons are carried out with the intention of driving "all foreigners" out of the region. Cologne-based professor Claus Kress believes that terrorism charges could be leveled against Andrej H. and the other suspects as long as "more than only marginal elements of the German military were destroyed." But, he adds, setting fire to single vehicles is not enough. Criminal law professor Thomas Weigend likewise finds fault with a broad application of terror laws. In a letter to former head federal prosecutor Kay Nehm, he found fault with the "excessive reach" of the 2003 law and called for a restrictive interpretation. An attack, he wrote, should be classified as terrorist only when "the state in its entirety suffers damage," as in the case of "large-scale attacks on the energy supply," for example. Exceptions should be made only for extreme violence against humans. Unusually Sloppy Even justices at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe, Germany's highest appellate court, take this view. "Only limited effects with no broader impact are not sufficient, according to the letter of the law," two magistrates at the Federal Court of Justice note. According to that interpretation, the militante gruppe Andrej H. is accused of leading wouldn't be a terrorist organization at all. Even if the left-wing radicals have declared war on the state and have set fire to police cars, job centers and a supermarket, they have taken care not to hurt anybody. Contrary to the Red Army Faction, explosives or firearms are not part of their weapons arsenal. But what seems like an academic quibble is vital for the future of the investigation into Andrej H's case. Only if the case is classified as terrorism does it become part of Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms' portfolio -- and only then can investigators make use of the full range of surveillance measures. Most importantly, it is only then that alleged behind-the-scenes conspirators can be prosecuted even when they have not contributed to specific crimes in a tangible way -- as with Andrej H. Investigators tapped his phone, traced his movements by following his mobile phone signal, read his e-mails and maintained video surveillance on both entrances to his house for almost a year. If the arrest warrant issued by the Federal Court of Justice is to be believed, these measures yielded little: Policemen saw the avowed G-8 critic meet with one of the alleged arsonists in a café in February and April of this year. The meetings are said to have been arranged in secret through the e-mail account "[email protected]." The investigators believe H. is the intellectual mastermind behind the group because his dissertation on urban renewal features the word "gentrification," which also appears in the communiqués of the "militante gruppe." Last week, Ulrich Hebenstreit, the judge overseeing Andrej H's detention, carefully distanced himself from the initial accusations and temporarily rescinded the unusually sloppy arrest warrant against Andrej H. Hebenstreit argued that H. continues to be "strongly suspected of having committed an offense," but that sufficient evidence "regarding direct participation in one or more attacks by the 'militante gruppe' is not yet extant." ______________________ http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=13831842 Professor's Research Results in Terrorism Charges All Things Considered, August 21, 2007 · Prominent German academic Andrej Holm was arrested three weeks ago on terrorism charges. According to the arrest warrant, Professor Holm was linked to a militant group because of his research into "gentrification." Robert Siegel talks with Kate Connolly, Berlin correspondent for The Guardian newspaper. [If you have trouble opening the file: I can send it to you and it will soon also be here: http://einstellung.so36.net/en] ______________________ http://www.fsrn.org/news/20070823_news.html Download http://www.fsrn.org/news/audio/20070823hifi.mp3 Stream http://www.fsrn.org/news/audio/20070823.ram Critics Say Germany's Anti-Terrorism Laws Target Leftist Intellectuals (3:46) German sociologist Andrej Holm, was released on bail late yesterday, after spending 3 weeks in jail on suspicion of being a member of a terrorist organization. Holm was arrested under section 129a of Germany's anti-terrorist legislation, because of his association with 3 other men who were arrested after allegedly attempting to set fire to a military vehicle. The German Federal Police suspect that all these people are members of a terrorist organisation known as the Militant Group - and have been holding them in pre-trial detention under section 129a of the German Anti-Terrorism Law. Cinnamon Nippard has more from Berlin. _______________ Coalition for the Immediate End to the §129a Proceedings c/o Haus der Demokratie und Menschenrechte e.V. Greifswalder Strasse 4 D-10405 Berlin Germany einstellung[at]so36.net http://einstellung.so36.net Berlin, 30th August 2007 Press Release Sociologist Remains Free. Federal Prosecution postpones the decision to revoke temporary release Yesterday afternoon the Third Criminal Division of the Federal Court of Justice declared that the decision over the appeal against Andrej H.'s temporary release from custody has been postponed until October. According to the judge there are outstanding legal questions as to whether the anti-terrorist legislation, the "§129a", can even be applied to this case at all. The lawyers acting on behalf of Florian L., Oliver R. and Axel H. believe that this discussion over the premises of the charges will also have an effect on their clients' situation. "The Federal Prosecution is completely lost over its construction of a terrorist organisation", Volker Eick, a spokesperson for the Coalition for the Immediate End to the 129a Proceedings, said. "The accusation of terrorism against the three people arrested in Brandenburg is based upon two meetings with Andrej H. Whatever is decided, we demand the immediate release of Oliver, Florian and Axel", Eick added. For Andrej H. the judge's decision means he will remain out of custody until the beginning of October. "We are of the opinion that this will continue to be the case because by October the claim that he may abscond will be have been clearly shown to be false", Eick stated. Further information in English: http://einstellung.so36.net/en Telephone number: 01577-4300652 Lawyer: Christina Clemm Tel.: +49-30-25293336 _____________________________________ -- Bitte benutzt meinen neuen GPG-Schluessel / please use my new GPG key: http://keys.indymedia.org/cgi-bin/lookup?op=get&search=DF54007A8BD027FC Fingerprint D8CA 5A27 CF02 D93E 8713 BB16 DF54 007A 8BD0 27FC Please send me yours again! Bitte schickt mir Eure Schluessel nochmal! Protect your privacy / mehr Datenschutz: http://cryptocd.org/online_version/ http://www.scroogle.org/ Das alles verhindert nicht, dass verschiedene Sicherheitsorgane des Landes mitlesen, ich bitte also von Zusendungen mit den Stichworten 'Gentrifizierung' oder 'Inhalt der Schwarzen Tuete' abzusehen. An die Damen und Herren von den Sicherheitsorganen: Letzteres war *Ironie*. # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: [email protected] and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: [email protected]