Latest news with #Passau
Times
26-06-2025
- Politics
- Times
Raid on Germany's ‘digital arsonists' feeds row over free speech
The police officers struck at 6am, raiding at least 65 addresses and running a total of more than 180 operations against 140 suspects across Germany. The target was not a drug-smuggling ring or a terror network. It was ugly language on social media. The individual cases investigated on the country's 12th national 'day of action against hate-posts' do not make for edifying reading. One man in the northern city of Bremen was accused of publishing a YouTube video with the title 'Are you a Jew? If yes, call Auschwitz.' Another called for the 'eradication' of the Alawites, a Muslim minority predominantly centred in Syria, while a 72-year-old living in the countryside around Passau, in the far south of the country, tweeted that a politician was a 'Nazi pig' and ought to be executed. Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said that 'digital arsonists' needed to be reminded that they could not expect to hide behind their smartphones or laptops with impunity. 'Many people have forgotten the difference between hate and opinions,' Reul said. 'But it's so simple: if you don't do it in the real world, you shouldn't do it digitally.' In practice, though, things are not always quite that simple. 'Hate speech' is an extremely broad umbrella concept in the German criminal system, covering everything from personal slander and the mockery of public officials to Volksverhetzung, an attempt to mobilise the masses against whole sections of the population. The rate of prosecutions has gone through the roof. According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which co-ordinated the 'day of action' on Wednesday, the number of cases has quadrupled over the past three years, from 2,411 in 2021 to 10,732 last year. • Berlin's Allied Museum becomes a relic of friendlier times About two thirds of them are assigned to the 'far-right' end of the political spectrum; the rest to the radical left, 'foreign' or 'religious' ideology, or miscellaneous slurs. The BKA put the increase down to more extensive online searches by police. Yet it has left many feeling uncomfortable. One recent poll found that 43 per cent felt unable to express their opinions freely. In a separate study, 44 per cent said it was generally better to be cautious about stating your political views, compared with only 16 per cent who had said the same in 1990. The instances of hate speech cited by the BKA in Wednesday's raids were unambiguous. 'Heil Hitler!! Again,' one of the suspects had purportedly written. 'We are Germans and a successful nation. Male foreigners out.' Other cases have been less clear-cut, including a man who was reported to police for calling the business minister a 'dunderhead' and a hard-right journalist who was given a suspended prison sentence for posting an obviously satirical image of the interior minister posing with a sign that read: 'I hate free speech.' Wolfgang Kubicki, a veteran former MP and deputy speaker and the present deputy leader of the centre-right Free Democratic Party, said Reul's words were a 'declaration of political bankruptcy'. He added: 'To stage prosecutions for offensive statements as a 'day of action' is not going to shore up trust in the institutions of the state — least of all in connection with insults against politicians. [Reul] should seriously ask himself whether he is truly still defending the values of our constitution — or rather endangering them.'
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Yahoo
Passau car ramming suspect charged with attempted manslaughter
A magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for attempted manslaughter for the man who drove his car into a crowd in the southern German city of Passau, injuring his wife, 5-year-old daughter and three others, police said on Sunday. The 48-year-old Iraqi national has been transferred to a correctional facility, they said. According to initial findings, police suspect a custody dispute may have been the motive. The man and his wife are reportedly separated, the police said. Three of the people injured in the incident, including the daughter, have already been released from hospital. The 40-year-old wife and a 39-year-old woman are still receiving treatment, but their lives are not in danger, police said.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Yahoo
Germany car driver faces attempted manslaughter charges
A magistrate has issued an arrest warrant for attempted manslaughter for a man who drove his car into a crowd in the German city of Passau, injuring his wife, five-year-old daughter and three others, police say. The 48-year-old Iraqi man has been transferred to a correctional facility, they said. According to initial findings, police suspect a custody dispute may have been the motive. The man and his wife are reportedly separated, the police said. "There had already been reasons for police action in connection with his wife in the past," a police spokesman said. Three of the people injured in the incident, including the daughter, have already been released from hospital. The 40-year-old wife and a 39-year-old woman are still receiving treatment but their lives are not in danger, police said. The two other people injured in the incident were an 18-year-old woman and a 52-year-old woman, who suffered abrasions and bruises. Their relationship to the family is not known. The man drove his car into the group of people near the southern German city's main train station about 3.30pm on Saturday. Passers-by alerted the police, and the man was detained and questioned shortly afterwards. It is not known whether he has made any statement about the incident.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Yahoo
Passau ramming suspect charged with attempted manslaughter
The Iraqi national suspected of driving his car into a crowd of people in Passau, southern Germany, will face charges of attempted manslaughter, police said on Sunday. The incident on Saturday evening left five people injured, including the man's wife and 5-year-old daughter. Initial findings, according to the police, indicate that the 48-year-old and his wife may have been engaged in a custody dispute. The man and his wife are reportedly separated, the police said. A magistrate has now issued an arrest warrant for the man, and the suspect has been transferred to a correctional facility. This breaking news story will be updated shortly. Edited by: Nik Martin
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Yahoo
Three of five injured in Passau car ramming released from hospital
Three of the five people injured when a man drove his car into a crowd in the southern German city of Passau have been released from hospital, the police said on Sunday. Among them is the five-year-old daughter of the alleged perpetrator. The man's 40-year-old wife and a 39-year-old woman are still being treated in hospital, but their lives are not in danger, the police said in a statement. The two other people injured in the incident were an 18-year-woman and a 52-year-old woman. Their relationship to the family is not known. According to the investigations so far, the 48-year-old Iraqi man deliberately drove into the group of people on Saturday afternoon. Based on initial findings, the police believe a custody dispute may have been the motive. The man was detained and questioned shortly afterwards. It is not known whether he has made any statement about the incident. He is due to appear before a magistrate on Sunday afternoon, who will decide whether he is to be placed in pre-trial detention.
