<nettime> Arrest warrant against Andrej Holm overturned

[Anna <anna@mail.nadir.org>]

Wedndesday the German Federal Court of Law "slapped the Attorney General
of Germany (federal prosecutor) in the face" and overturned the arrest
warrant against Andrej (quote by several lawyers and politicians).

Andrej is now not threatened with direct re-imprisonment anymore and
free to travel again.

Interesting detail: in its decision the court indirectly also said that
so-called conspirative behaviour - such as not taking a mobile phone
along - in itself isn't illegal and can't be used as evidence to prove
e.g. membership in a terrorist organisation.

The court did, however, not yet decide on the more general question as
to what constitutes terrorism. The other three who were arrested for
allegedly setting fire to several army trucks remain in prison. All
four, plus three others, are subjected to the same inquiry by the
Federal Prosecutor who claims all seven are members of a terrorist
organisation called 'militant group'.
-> https://einstellung.so36.net/en

We are very happy about this first step towards our goal, the dismissal
of the case, and still have a long way to go. The inquiry continues,
witnesses are being subpoenaed and threatened with high fines and
detention up to six months if they refuse to testify: to our knowledge
this concerns approx. 20 people - a professor, friends, collegues,
people who have no apparent relation to the suspects at all.

We're also now looking for contributions to our 'International
Competition "What exactly is Terrorism"?':

The Coalition for the Immediate End to the 129a Proceedings is searching
for definitions of terrorism: legal, humorous or political. Entries to
the competition can be in the form of texts, photos, videos, podcasts,
postcards, posters; they can be artistic, intellectual or journalistic.
They can be submitted by individuals, collectives or by anonymous
contributors. The deadline is November 30th 2007.

We are also still looking for attractive prizes, please donate!

-> https://einstellung.so36.net/en/what-is-terror


Anna

annalist.noblogs.org
_______________________________________

Details:

==============================================================
Press release by the Coalition for the Immediate End to the § 129a
Proceedings
==============================================================

"Arrest warrant against Andrej H. overturned. Lawyers demand an end to
the §129a proceedings"

Yesterday the German Federal Court announced its decision in the case of
Berlin-based Andrej H. The Court has decided that at no point there was
any immediate suspicion that would have necessitated his detainment. The
arrest warrant against the activist and researcher was unlawful from the
beginning and has thus been overturned.

“We welcome this decision. Particularly because with this decision the
Federal Court confirms that the conclusions of the Federal Prosecution
were purely speculative and exaggerated,” Christina Clemm, Andrej’s
legal representative said. “The various violations of my client’s basic
rights that have occurred in the last months are therefore unlawful. The
next step is to close the case.”
-> https://einstellung.so36.net/en/pm/475

==============
Press coverage
==============

Deutsche Welle World:

Court Overturns Controversial Arrest of Sociology Professor

Germany's Federal Court has overturned the arrest of a sociologist
accused of being a member of an extreme left group. The professor's
imprisonment had sparked protest by academics on both side of the Atlantic.

Professor Andrej Holm was arrested on Aug. 2 on suspicion of being a
member of the militante gruppe (mg), a left wing militant group.

Holm, a sociologist at Berlin's Humbolt University, was released on bail
at the end of August after three weeks in prison. The Federal
Prosecutor's Office immediately appealed this decision.

In its latest ruling, the German Federal Court in Karlsruhe on Wednesday
rejected the appeal, and at the same time, ruled that the original
arrest warrant was unfounded.
-> http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2846685,00.html

--------------

UPI:

German court frees terror suspect

BERLIN, 25 (UPI) -- A German federal court has overturned an arrest
warrant for a Berlin-based university professor accused of links to a
left-wing terrorist group.

Germany’s prosecution office had issued the warrant based on the belief
that 36-year-old Andrej Holm was a member of the far-left terror
organization known as Militant Group, or mg, which before, during and
after this year’s Group of Eight meeting enacted 25 fire bombings in and
around Berlin.

On Wednesday, however, Germany’s federal court in Karlsruhe made the
warrant null and void when it said sufficient evidence was lacking that
Holm, who is an urban development expert at Berlin’s Humboldt
University, really was a member of the mg.
->
http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Emerging_Threats/Briefing/2007/10/25/german_court_frees_terror_suspect/1974/

=============================
The court's decision (german):
=============================

http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=pm&Datum=2007&Sort=3&nr=41487&linked=bes&Blank=1&file=dokument.pdf


==================================================
Press release by Witness group / Legal Team Berlin
==================================================

Federal Prosecution subpoenas witnesses in the 129a case "militant group"

Since Wednesday 10th October the Federal Prosecution has issued more
than ten people with a subpoena to act as witnesses in the 129a case
against Florian, Axel, Andrej and three other accused individuals.

Without awaiting the decision of the Court, the Federal Prosecution has
arbitrarily begun to issue subpoenas. We are aware of ten cases which
include individuals who have some form of connection to the accused as
well as members of the public with whom no connection is in any way
apparent. "Obviously the Federal Prosecution requires new material
before the decision is taken because they do not have sufficient
evidence," Beate Beckman of the Berlin Legal Team (Ermittlungsausschuss)
said. This shows that mere contact to one of the accused can draw people
into a terrorism case.
-> https://einstellung.so36.net/en/pm/410






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