Germany: Record of politically motivated crimes

At a time when Germany is seeing a sharp drop in the number of new coronavirus cases, new data released on Tuesday show that the pandemic played an indirect role in increasing politically motivated crime over the past year. A large proportion of reported crimes – from property damage and violations of the right of assembly to murder – are linked to protests against measures to curb the spread of the virus.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (BKA) figures show 55,048 politically motivated crimes in 2021. This is an increase of 23% over the previous year and at the same time a record number since 2011, when the official registration of of these elements.

The largest increase, at a rate approaching 150% compared to 2020, is noted in the number of criminal offenses that are not extreme right-wing, far-left, xenophobic or religious. About 7,000 cases are linked to the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the September federal elections and other electoral contests in German states.

Home Secretary Nancy Phaser made a special reference to the murder of a 20-year-old worker at a gas station in Indar-Oberstein, Rhineland-Palatinate, by a customer who suggested that he wear a mask. Describing the crime as a “frightening culmination” of those covered in the report, Ms. Pfizer said the figures were “a tool for measuring the intensity of social conflict.”

Special mention to the “heterogeneous” Querdenker movement

Commenting on the findings, BKA President Holger Munch referred to the often violent demonstrations of the last two years against measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Describing the participants as a “heterogeneous, mixed scene”, Münch singled out the controversial Querdenker movement, noting that far-right elements sought to use anti-vaccine protests for their own benefit and to “find a link between democracy and the center”. an attempt which, as he said, was not crowned with success.

For both Munich and the interior minister, “far-right extremism remains the greatest threat to our liberal-democratic society,” even if the report records a small reduction in crime against such a background.

“Shame on the country” anti-Semitism

In 2021, there were 3,000 more anti-Semitic crimes than in 2020, an increase of 29% and a “shame on our country”, as Mrs. Pfizer underlined, describing as equally shameful that “the genocide of European Jews was degraded by some of its deniers coronavirus that had pinned a yellow star on them “.

However, there have been criticisms that a large percentage of crimes are not categorized by the report’s authors. The coronavirus area, for example, has been “significantly radicalized” and is displaying “clear tendencies of violence”, according to Pia Lamberti, head of the Center for Monitoring, Analysis and Strategy, who links the protests to the far right.

“A conspiracy theories are closely intertwined with racist and anti-Semitic elements,” Lamberti said, adding that it endangers people “who are identified as enemies.”

Offenses and in the shadow of the war in Ukraine?

Both the Interior Ministry and the security services are now facing violence with potential political motives as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. In the first period after the outbreak of the war, about 270 incidents were recorded per week, most of them against people of Russian descent. However, according to Mr. Munch, they have now been reduced to less than 200 per week. “Emotional tension has weakened,” he says, but that could change at any time.

Marcel Furstenau

Edited by: Katerina Alexandridi

Source: Deutsche Welle