Berlin presents new action plan against far-right crime

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http://www.dw.com/en/berlin-presents-new-action-plan-against-far-right-crime/a-19125901

Arson attacks on refugee homes, violence, hate on the Internet. Some racially-motivated crimes have increased by more than 200 percent recently. Now Germany's justice ministers have come up with a new plan.

Berlin presents new action plan against far-right crime
Sabine Kinkartz
17.03.2016

Timo Reinfrank is alarmed. "Since Germany's inception as a federal republic, there has never been such a mass of attacks against refugees in the country," says the head of the Amadeu Antonio Foundation. According to one chronicle created by the foundation, together with the refugee organization Pro Asyl, there were 1,239 assaults on refugees or their housing facilities in 2015 - a fivefold increase on the previous year. The violence is continuing apace, says Reinfrank. This year there have already been 289 attacks on refugee housing, and of these, there were 50 arson attacks and 74 physical assaults with a considerable number of injured.

The German judiciary recognizes that there's an urgent need for discussion. Germany is experiencing a wave of politically motivated violence that threatens the peace of society, says Germany's Minister of Justice Heiko Maas. "That is a disgrace," he said after a meeting in Berlin with his state-level colleagues. "The rule of law and the justice system needs to react and follow through with tough answers.” It is "desperately necessary," Maas said.

Special units and dedicated funds

Just what this response will be was decided at a conference in Berlin, the minister explained briefly in a closing statement. "I have rarely experienced such unity," said Thomas Heilmann, Berlin's justice minister.

There will be more special units with state prosecutors specializing in violent attacks by right-wing extremists, even if that requires hiring additional personnel. Also approved were the increased use of rewards for finding suspects in arson attacks and a more rigorous implementation of prison sentences.