A German politician assassinated refugees and threatened others

Salim Slim-Berlin

The killing of German politician Walter Lubke, president of Kassel province - one of the most prominent supporters of the policy of welcoming refugees in the country - continues to interact in German circles, amid warnings to target other politicians, under constant right-wing threats.

Lubke, 65, was found on the night of June 2 with a gunshot wound to the head of his house in the city of Kassel, in the state of Hessen, before he died shortly after his attempts to revive him failed. After the autopsy, Lubke was found to have been shot from nearby, but the motive has not yet been confirmed.

The authorities arrested two people, one named "Stefan A." Suspected of committing the crime and belonging to the extreme right and placed in custody, while the other was released.

The suspect confessed to the murder of Lubke, according to information published by Spiegel Online, explaining that he planned and acted alone. However, the authorities continue to investigate potential confidants or accomplices.

On the motives of the crime, which has sparked widespread internal debate for weeks, Stephan said his crime was a reaction to Lubke's statements about refugees in October 2015.

The investigators also obtained access to two other defendants in the murder of the head of Castle County, an alleged arms dealer from North Rhine-Westphalia, and a mediator between the offender and the trafficker. Investigations are under way with each of them on charges of assisting and inciting murder, and they have been brought before the judge and a weapons cache has been discovered.

The tragedy of democracy
There are still reactions to the death of Lubke, as many people interacted with Twitter, including a member of the Bavarian parliament, who published through his account a picture showing the refusal of a member of the right-wing Alternative Party bloc to stand in tribute to Lubke's spirit.

Foreign Minister Haikou Mas said: "The Lubke case is a tragedy for our democracy, the borders between rightist groups and armed groups are already flowing, we must defend our democracy, the enemies of freedom do not deserve freedom."

"For the first time in almost 100 years, the representative of the state is the victim of a targeted attack by right-wing enemies of democracy," said politician Zygmar Gabriel in a tweet, "What would happen in Germany if this murder were committed by leftist terrorists?"

"Right-wing ideologies give birth to terrorism in a situation where the problem has been ignored and has been underestimated for a very long time," WDR journalist George Rustla said in a tweet.

Refugee journalist Isabelle Chiani said, "So far, since the alleged background - which detests the refugees - of the murderer of Lubke becomes clearer, the alternative party does not stop drawing a caricature. What kind of refugee influx to Germany should be? "

In the meantime, many local politicians in several cities - notably the Mayor of Cologne - received threats from right-wing extremists, against the backdrop of these positive political attitudes with refugees and immigrants. The leader of the Social Democratic Party in Saxony State received a death threat by receiving an unknown parcel containing a fake gun sent to his home address.

Racist background
In the opinion of Professor Dr. Fabian Versho, head of the Center for Research on Right-Wing Extremism and New Nazism at the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf, explains the assumptions made about a possible racist background by anti-racist groups and anti-fascist NGOs. "This case has reduced state authorities and most political parties, Lubke belongs to them for a long time. "

In light of the information currently available about other suspects in weapons possession, and long biography on the far right, the German professor of Al-Jazeera Net confirms that there are good reasons for the willingness of extremist right-wing structures to be killed at any time, as evidenced by Lubke's recent case.

As for the effective methods of confronting the extreme right, he expected the demonstrations to be a strong message if he participated a lot, but that is not enough alone. In his view, the solution is a political culture and a pro-immigration and non-hostile discourse for a diverse society.

He also spoke about carefully monitoring the racist and extreme right-wing environment, intervening against the hate speech and violence of the right-wing, and whether there were violations of the law and were quickly punished, according to the professor.

The right-wing extremist and the neo-Nazis did not rule out more acts of right-wing terrorism and racial terrorism. He attributed this to the fact that there are an adequate number of newborns exposed to violence and racism. They have access to explosives and weapons and there are networks and structures that organize terrorists and violent criminals.

Interior Minister Horst Zehofer confirmed the growing threat of the extreme right last year, adding that the number of right-wing extremist networks reached a maximum of 24,100 people, adding that about half of them report violence.

Right - wing terrorism
On the threat of right-wing terrorism to refugees, Nader Khalil, director of the German-Arab center DAZ and a refugee integration activist, said the threat of the right had always existed before, but steadily increased after the wave of asylum in 2015, especially in the eastern regions where attacks on refugees and victims .

The activist in the field of refugees - during a conversation with Al Jazeera Net - that the popularity of right-wing parties increased through playing on the strings of fear of refugees, and use scarecrow, and intimidation of Islam, especially in light of the low culture of some, and high unemployment rates in some states.

Although the authorities are monitoring the matter and doing their duty to confront the extreme right-wing groups, this is not enough, according to the Director of the German-Arab Center, expecting that this danger will increase against the refugees and calling on the government to do more to protect all those on its territory. The danger of these extreme right-wing groups.