display

To the knowledge of the security authorities, extremists in the Federal Republic have published a total of 24 so-called enemy lists since 2010.

This is what the federal government said in response to a request from the FDP parliamentary group that WELT has received.

The documents were directed against "politically and socially engaged persons and organizations".

The federal government did not provide any information about the extremism area in which the enemy lists are to be located.

As this editorial found out, however, it should be lists from right and left-wing extremism.

Under enemy lists, the federal government defines collections of data, “primarily address data, but also information about personal circumstances or photos” that are published and linked with “express or subtle threats”.

display

Examples of such threats are the expressions that a person could “get a visitor” or “something should be done against someone like that”.

According to the federal government, twenty of the 24 collections were available on the Internet.

The government did not publish the exact Internet pages.

The reason given for this: This would reveal information about the work of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).

A breakdown of the origin of the authors by federal state was not made because the "origin of these collections can usually not be localized".

display

The Ministry of Justice recently presented a proposal for a new legal regulation to "improve criminal protection against so-called lists of enemies".

The dissemination of data from alleged political opponents should become a separate punishment.

According to the plans, such a “dangerous publication of personal data” will in future be punishable by imprisonment of up to two years or a fine.

If data is not already publicly available, there is a risk of imprisonment of up to three years or a fine.

There is usually no reference to a specific illegal act, writes the ministry.

However, such lists of opponents are often published in a context that arouses uncertainty or fear or is perceived as threatening.

display

"With the publication of 'enemy lists', perpetrators aim to convey the subtle message to data subjects and the public that the publication of data could lead to crimes against the data subjects."

The FDP member of the Bundestag Jürgen Martens considers the introduction of a new criminal offense to be “justifiable”, since enemy lists present an “abstract threat”.

"The security authorities are far from having a comprehensive picture," criticized the lawyer.

Rather, the government has no knowledge of investigative proceedings initiated with regard to such lists.

The exchange of information data between the federal government and the federal states must “become significantly better”.

Over the past few years, lists allegedly written by right-wing extremists with personal data such as address details, photos or information about the personal circumstances of alleged political opponents have appeared several times.

For example, a list of around 25,000 names was found in an anti-terror raid in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2017.

Some lists are circulating on the internet.

There were reports, among other things, on a list with the heading “We'll get you all”.

The Kassel District President Walter Lübcke, who was murdered by a right-wing extremist in June 2019, had already been mentioned on an enemy list of the NSU terrorists in 2011.

The list comprised a total of 10,000 addresses, but was not published on the Internet.