The Other View - Terrorist Abdul Ballout and the Naive State: Justice and Police Must Take Off Their Blinkers

The German justice and police systems are criticized for their perceived leniency towards violent Islamists, which the article argues facilitates attacks. The author contends that only a capable legal system can effectively combat Islamism, but Germany's judiciary is too lenient, and police are instructed to exercise restraint, making the work of attackers easier.

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Only a capable legal state can effectively combat violent Islamism. But German justice judges leniently, and the police are ordered to exercise restraint. This makes the terrorists' business particularly easy.

The case of Abdul Ballout, who drove a van into the Berlin Christopher Street Day parade and attacked attendees with a machete, is presented as an example. While Ballout's actions resulted in one death and 29 injuries, the article notes that judges acted legally by sentencing him to a mild youth sentence for preparing an attack and releasing him provisionally. The deradicalization center also followed its procedures by initially summoning him for preliminary talks. Even the police, who had Ballout under their radar on the day of the attack, reportedly acted within their legal authority and personnel capabilities.

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The judges acted legally when they sentenced him to a mild youth sentence for preparing an attack and released him provisionally.

However, the article asserts that despite these actions being legally correct within the existing system, the German justice and police system is fundamentally flawed. The core problem, according to the author, is the application of juvenile criminal law to individuals who pose a significant threat. Abdul Ballout, although an adult at the time of the offense, was sentenced under juvenile law. The judges opted against adult sentencing, arguing that Ballout's development was comparable to that of a juvenile.

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In short: As far as is known so far, all state bodies have acted correctly within the framework of the existing system. Only the German justice and police system is programmed incorrectly in the crucial places.

The piece calls for an end to the practice of applying juvenile criminal law to "dangerous individuals" and urges the justice and police forces to "take off their blinkers." The implication is that a more robust and less constrained approach is necessary to effectively combat terrorism.

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The problem already begins with the fact that Abdul Ballout was convicted of preparing for terror under juvenile criminal law.