German Interior Minister condemns leftwing G20 violence and calls for database of left extremists
Record ID:
898791
German Interior Minister condemns leftwing G20 violence and calls for database of left extremists
- Title: German Interior Minister condemns leftwing G20 violence and calls for database of left extremists
- Date: 10th July 2017
- Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JULY 10, 2017) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, SAYING: "It is good that appropriate arrests were made. We are talking here about serious offences. I expect that the forces of justices will carry out their investigation consistently and whole-heartedly, and come to harsh rulings. A multi-year custodial sentence is the consequence of such a breach of the peace." PHOTOGRAPHER PRESS WITH CAMERAS JOURNALIST WITH LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER, THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, SAYING: "I consider the introduction of an additional Europe-wide database (of leftist extremists) as basically a good idea, as it is a unified way of comparing information. However the same criteria need to be agreed, which is always a particular problem by European databases." CAMERAMAN JOURNALIST WITH LAPTOP (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER, THOMAS DE MAIZIERE, SAYING: "Summits of this kind will continue to take place in Germany's major cities. Anything else would be a capitulation on the part of the rule of law. Unfortunately some on the left-wing continue to try to depict leftist extremism as harmless, and to legitimise it. Considering the images from Hamburg's Schanzenviertel, it is incomprehensible how someone can describe people who are prepared to throw flagstones from rooftops onto others as political activists, or even to say that they are doing it in the wrong area. This sort of thing is preparation for attempted murder. As a democracy we must be totally united. We must not allow extremists any place in our society."
- Embargoed: 24th July 2017 14:09
- Keywords: De Maiziere G20 left extremism protests violence police
- Location: BERLIN + HAMBURG, GERMANY
- City: BERLIN + HAMBURG, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: G20,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0076P4UGQV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Politicians from the governing parties in Germany on Monday (July 10) called for the introduction of a database of left-wing extremists in the aftermath of left-wing violence during the G20 summit in Hamburg.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said he thought the idea was in principle a good one.
The government has been forced to defend her choice of Hamburg, saying other cities, like London, had hosted similar meetings. Hamburg, a seaport which is Germany's second biggest city, has a strong radical leftist tradition. It was also home to an al Qaeda cell that carried out the 9/11 attacks on U.S. targets in 2001.
"Summits of this kind will continue to take place in Germany's major cities," de Maiziere told a government news conference.
"As a democracy we must be totally united. We must not allow extremists any place in our society."
De Maiziere, who said that it seemed beyond doubt that certain protesters had been organising the violence at least two years in advance also said that despite roadblocks ahead of the event, international perpetrators prone to violence had made their way in from northern and southern Europe.
About 20,000 police struggled to contain several hundred anti-capitalist militants who torched cars, looted shops and hurled Molotov cocktails and stones during the July 7-8 summit. Tens of thousands more people demonstrated peacefully.
Overall, 476 officers suffered injuries ranging from cuts and firework burns to eye damage from laser pointers. Police said on Sunday they had arrested 186 people and took 225 into custody. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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