Germany: „Knife experts“ of police and media under fire
Right-wing politicians and the media work with questionable statistics on knives as a means of committing crimes. The Federal Criminal Police Office will not publish valid figures until this year. For more than two years, the right-wing extremist AfD party in the federal and state governments has been trying to prove with parliamentary questions that […]
Once again complaint against German law on Federal Intelligence Service
After the Snowden revelations, the coalition government of Socialdemocrats and Christian parties had regulated the powers of the foreign secret service by law. Despite a ruling from the Constitutional Court, its surveillance operations continue to grow out of control. The Federal Constitutional Court in Germany must once again deal with the powers of the Federal […]
Pegasus and Predator investigations: Europol is not a European FBI
The EU Parliament’s committee of enquiry into Pegasus and other spy software is calling for Europol to investigate the scandal. However, there are reasons why the police agency’s powers are limited. While the EU Parliament is looking into the spyware scandal in a committee of enquiry, the role of the police agency Europol is also […]
Sea-Watch flies again: Flight bans by Libya contrary to international law
After a ten-month break, the „Seabird 2“ is back over the central Mediterranean. With this aircraft, the pilots detect sea emergencies and notify nearby ships for rescue. The sea rescue organisation Sea-Watch has resumed its aerial reconnaissance over the central Mediterranean. „Our crew left early in the morning for a flight that hadn’t happened like […]
Another police unit for French-German migration defence
A joint Franco-German police force will be deployed to sporting events, protests and against „migration flows“. Another unit undermines Germany’s principle of separation between the police and the military. Germany and France want to strengthen their cooperation against „migration flows“. To this end, the two countries had set up a „Joint French-German Service Unit“ („Gemeinsame […]
Use of Spanish spyware in Germany illegal, Bundestag report says
Spain’s secret service is probably also spying abroad with „Pegasus“. Attacks may have been made in Germany on the former regional president of Catalonia and his Chilean-German lawyer. On 25 March 2018, former regional president of Catalonia Carles Puigdemont was arrested by the highway police in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein and temporarily detained. Due […]