2 yıl önce

Politically motivated crimes hit a record high in Germany

The number of politically motivated offences jumped by more than 23 percent from 2020 to 55,048, the highest level since police started collecting data in 2001.

AP

More than 7,000 offences were recorded in connection with Covid-19 restrictions and around 7,300 crimes were related to last year’s federal election.

Germany has reported a new record in the number of politically motivated crimes last year as anger over government measures to curb the pandemic fuelled extremism.

The interior ministry and the BKA federal crime office tallied 55,048 offences with a political background on Tuesday — the first time the total surpassed 55,000.

Nearly 22,000 of the unlawful acts were attributed to the right wing, while around 10,000 were classed as leftist.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the new record underlined "how indispensable the work of the security authorities is in protecting our democracy".

She called far-right crime "the greatest extremist threat to our democracy", noting that 41 percent of victims of violent offences in Germany had been attacked by right-wing extremists.

Another 21,340 cases could not be classified ideologically — a figure that exploded by 147 percent — most of which were linked to protests against state restrictions to fight the spread of coronavirus whose participants came from both ends of the political spectrum.

Anti-Muslim, anti-Jewish crimes

The ministry recorded at least 732 anti-Muslim crimes in 2021 compared to 1,026 in 2020.

German authorities also reported a nearly 29-percent jump in anti-Jewish crimes to 3,027 offences, the vast majority of which — 2,552 — were attributed to the far-right scene.

Faeser described the figure as a "disgrace for our country" given its historical responsibility for the Holocaust.

She called it "shameful" that some radical opponents of pandemic restrictions "trivialised" the Nazis' slaughter of the Jews by wearing yellow stars used in their World War II-era persecution.

"We are aware of our responsibility to fight anti-Semitism with everything in our power and to protect Jews," Faeser said.

More than 7,000 offences were recorded in connection with Covid-19 restrictions and around 7,300 crimes were related to last year’s federal election, she added.

SOURCE: TRTWorld and agencies