Germany

Law Enforcement

Berlin: Salafist group outlawed after police raids Authorities in the German capital have announced a ban on the radical Islamist group Jama'atu Berlin following a series of dawn raids.

February 25, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) Berlin’s Senate has announced on Twitter that it has banned the “jihadist-Salafist association Jama’atu Berlin,” also known as Tauhid Berlin. The tweet Thursday said police in Berlin and Brandenburg had carried out early-morning searches of properties belonging to the group’s members. A […]

Clerics & Preachers

Abu Walaa, the preacher guilty of supporting ‘Islamic State’ terrorism The trial of suspected 'Islamic State' recruiter Abu Walaa has lasted three and a half years in the German city of Celle. He was sentenced to over 10 years in prison.

February 24, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 11 1/2 years for Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A., also known as Abu Walaa. They said the defendant, who was born in Iraq, was the head of an “Islamic State” (IS) network and worked to […]

Discrimination & “Islamophobia”

At least 1 in 4 Europeans have negative feelings towards Muslims Anti-Muslim sentiment was highest in Hungary, a survey of eight European countries commissioned by anti-extremism groups showed, despite Muslims making up just 0.4 per cent of Hungary’s population.

February 15, 2021   

(Vice) Negative views of Muslims and immigrants are widely held across Europe, according to a major survey across eight European countries. The survey of 12,000 people from Sweden, France, Germany, UK, Hungary, Poland, the Netherlands and Italy found a widespread mistrust of […]

Immigration

Germany: Syrian man charged in Dresden knife attack German prosecutors say the 20-year-old Syrian asylum-seeker was motivated by homophobia when he murdered a tourist and seriously injured his partner.

February 11, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) German federal prosecutors charged a Syrian national suspected of stabbing two men last year in the eastern city of Dresden, German media outlets reported Thursday. The 20-year-old suspect is said to have been motivated by a radical Islamist ideology, and […]

Legal

Tajik IS cell member in Germany jailed for 7 years The man had been accused of forming an 'Islamic State' cell with other locals of Tajik origins. They had first planned to shoot dead an Islam critic inside Germany.

January 26, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) A German court on Tuesday sentenced a man to seven years in prison over plans to … shoot dead a critic of Islam as part of an “Islamic State” (IS) terror cell. Summing up the four-month trial, a Düsseldorf court […]

Crime

German police busts suspected refugee smuggling ring Over a dozen suspects were linked to an operation to smuggle Syrians through the so-called Balkan route since 2019. Coordinated raids early on Tuesday involved hundreds of officers across several cities and states.

January 19, 2021   

(Deutsche Welle) German authorities launched coordinated raids nationwide targeting a human trafficking ring early on Tuesday, arresting suspects in Berlin, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Hesse, federal police said in a statement. Around 400 officers mobilized in total. The raids stem from […]

Children & Teens

Germany brings home ‘Islamic State’ brides, children from Syrian camps Humanitarian reasons have been cited for flying home several 'IS' brides and children from internment in Syria. At the height of the civil war, the women allegedly traveled to join the Islamist militia.

December 20, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on Sunday said he was “relieved” that a “humanitarian” recovery operation had brought home 18 children and five “Islamic State” (IS) brides from Kurdish-run internment camps in northeastern Syria. One of three German women brought back, identified in reports as […]

News: Europe

Berlin remembers victims of Christmas market terror attack Mourners have gathered in the German capital to pay respects to those who died in the 2016 terrorist attack. This year's ceremony took place in the absence of Christmas markets.

December 19, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Over 100 people gathered in Berlin on Saturday to mourn and remember the 12 victims of the 2016 Islamist attack on a Christmas market in the German capital. At 8:02 p.m. — the exact time of the attack — church […]

News: Europe

Berlin Islamist terror attack: A deadly story of failure Anis Amri committed the worst Islamist attack in Germany to date when he drove into the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz. Four years later many questions are unanswered. And many fear such an event could be repeated.

December 18, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Eleven people died and 60 were seriously injured when the Islamist Anis Amri drove a stolen truck into a Christmas market in central Berlin on December 19, 2016. The 24-year-old Tunisian national whose application for asylum had been rejected had […]

Law Enforcement

Germany: Anti-terror data mining ruled unconstitutional Powers granted in 2015 that gave systematic access to an anti-terror database are partially illegal and are now void, says Germany's Constitutional Court.

December 11, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s highest court ruled Friday that a law that gave systematic access by security agencies to a centralized anti-terror database is partially illegal. The Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe said that the widespread use of the stored personal data had […]

Immigration

Vienna: Iraqi jailed for life over attacks on German ICE trains An Iraqi accused of trying to derail three German high-speed passenger trains in 2018 has been handed a life sentence by a court in Vienna. The jury ultimately rejected his denial of being an 'Islamic State' supporter.

December 4, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Vienna’s regional court on Thursday sentenced a 44-year-old Iraqi to life in prison for attempting to derail high-speed passenger trains in Germany. The man had been living in the Austrian capital as a refugee with his wife and four children since 2013. The […]

Crime

German minister wants ‘criminals’ expelled to Syria, despite asylum safeguards Interior Minister Horst Seehofer wants Germany's general ban on deportations to war-torn Syria weakened to return persons deemed criminal or dangerous. Rights groups accuse him of pandering to the far right.

November 27, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Germany’s current general deportation stop to Syria should not be extended, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said Friday, urging that individual case-by-case decisions be made “at least for criminals and those considered a threat.” In 2012, Germany passed a ban on […]

Government & Politics

124 ‘high-risk’ Islamists at large in Germany: report More than 120 Islamists in Germany pose a 'high risk,' according to the country's investigative police agency. A deadly attack in Dresden last month forced authorities to increase surveillance of dangerous Islamists.

November 21, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) In response to a parliamentary question by the Green Party, Germany’s BKA Federal Criminal Police Office revealed there are currently 124 “high risk” Islamists at large in the country. The agency also listed 151 people as posing a “moderate risk.” The BKA’s […]

Academics & Education

Germany’s imams seen as key in combating radicalization Imam training is in the spotlight of this year's German Islam Conference. In light of recent terror attacks, Germany's interior minister said a new training program for German-speaking imams was 'money well-spent.'

November 10, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) The latest spate of terror attacks in France and Austria will not hamper the cooperation between the government and Germany’s Muslim community, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday. “We won’t let terrorism and extremism derail us,” Seehofer said at […]

News: Europe

Islamist terrorism: Germany is home to more than 600 agitators Islamist terrorism has struck again in Europe — this time in Vienna and Nice. Germany has also been the scene of numerous attacks, and the security forces keep tabs on hundreds of potential attackers.

November 4, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) At least one of the assailants in the Vienna attack was known to police. The 20-year-old, shot dead on Monday evening, had made several attempts to leave the country and join the so-called Islamic State (IS). It would appear, however, that […]

Government & Politics

Turkey condemns police raid on Berlin mosque Berlin prosecutor's office, police should apologize to Muslim community for this attitude, says Turkey's vice president

October 23, 2020 and   

(Anadolu) Turkey on Thursday condemned a police raid on a mosque in Berlin, Germany. “I strongly condemn the immoderate police raid on the Berlin Mevlana Mosque during the fajr prayer time,” Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said on Twitter. The Berlin prosecutor’s […]

Citizenship

Man denied German citizenship for refusing to shake woman’s hand The man aced the German naturalization test, but refused to shake hands with the female official handing over his citizenship. Despite claims he will not shake hands with men either, his citizenship has been rejected.

October 17, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) A German court ruled on Friday that a Muslim man who refused to shake the hand of a woman should not receive German citizenship. The 40-year-old Lebanese doctor, who came to Germany in 2002, said he refuses to shake women’s […]

Government & Politics

German police: 91 Islamist returnees from Mid East ‘threats to society’ Germany's security services refer to people who they consider capable of serious acts of violence — including terrorist attacks — as 'threats.'

October 17, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) Police in Germany labeled 91 Islamist returnees from Syria and Iraq as threats to society, according to information supplied to the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, news agency DPA reported on Saturday. The list, supplied by Germany’s interior ministry, […]

Books

Germany: Top police informant identified by Islamist and convicted terrorist The undercover agent 'Murat Cem' is reported to be under police protection after a well-known Islamist identified him. Clues to the informant's real name were apparently found in a book about his surveillance work.

October 16, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) After the identity of a high-profile police informant was blown this summer, a radical Islamist and convicted terrorist has claimed responsibility for unmasking him, German public broadcaster Tagesschau reported on Friday. Bernhard Falk said he worked out the real name […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s FDP urges probe into Islamic Relief funding and ties to Muslim Brotherhood Demands for background checks on Islamic Relief leaders before the government issues millions of euros in grants

October 7, 2020   

(National-UAE) Politicians in Germany are demanding urgent answers over the government’s funding of charity Islamic Relief and its links to the Muslim Brotherhood. Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) is demanding an inquiry into the Muslim Brotherhood’s ties in the nation. It follows […]

Government & Politics

Germany’s refugee population falls for the first time in nine years The number of refugees living in Germany has fallen for the first time in nine years, said the Interior Ministry. Some lost their protection status, while others were prevented from entering due to COVID-19 restrictions.

October 5, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) The number of refugees living in Germany has fallen for the first time in nine years, according to the Interior Ministry. In the first half of 2020, the total number of refugees decreased from about 1.83 million at the end […]

Children & Teens

Germany accepts first 139 refugees from Greece’s burned-out Moria camp A group of children suffering serious health problems and their immediate families arrived in Germany. It was the first resettlement flight after the notorious refugee camp burned down earlier this month.

September 30, 2020   

(Deutsche Welle) The first group of refugees from the razed Moria camp arrived in Germany from Greece on Wednesday. A group of 139 people — unaccompanied children, children suffering from serious health problems and their immediate families — arrived in Hannover, in […]