Hazardous areas in Hamburg in January 2014

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Demonstration on January 18, 2014 with the motto Abolish danger areas

The establishment of the danger areas in Hamburg in 2014 was a measure taken by the Hamburg police from January 4 to 13, 2014, during which several parts of the city were declared danger areas according to police law . This affected St. Pauli , Sternschanze , Altona-Altstadt and large parts of Altona-Nord . The justification for the order was that in the previous weeks there had been attacks against police officers with personal injury and against police facilities with property damage. From January 9, 2014, these danger areas were locally reduced and limited in time. The events were in the context of the demonstrations in Hamburg on December 21, 2013 , during which there were clashes between demonstrators and the police.

While the Senate and the police described the establishment of the danger areas as successful, “necessary and legally permissible”, there were multiple demonstrations against the establishment and the associated police measures, the largest with several thousand participants on January 18, 2014. The opposition parties Die Linke , The Greens and the FDP as well as parts of the media criticized the establishment of the danger zones.

The Hamburg Higher Administrative Court declared the establishment of danger areas by the Hamburg police unconstitutional in a judgment of May 13, 2015 (Az. 4 Bf 226/12). The requirements for the suspicion-independent controls of citizens are too vague and violate the principle of proportionality. The restriction of freedom should not be left to the discretion of the administration. A police assessment of the situation cannot be a yardstick for encroaching on fundamental rights. The judgment is final.

The establishment of danger areas according to the police situation assessment has been practiced in Hamburg since 1995, three of these special police rights zones exist permanently in St. Pauli, Altona-Altstadt and St. Georg .

Events and backgrounds

Danger zone in the period from 4th to 9th January 2014
"Danger islands" around the police commissioners (PK) 15, 16, 21 from January 9 to January 13, 2014

In connection with evacuation threats against the Rote Flora , a situation of the refugees coming via Lampedusa that had not been clarified for months and the foreseeable end of the Esso houses , numerous and regular protests and rallies took place in advance of the large demonstration jointly planned for December 21, 2013, especially in the affected districts of St. Pauli and Sternschanze. On December 12, 2013, police station 16 in Lerchenstrasse and on December 20, 2013 police station 15 ( Davidwache ) were attacked, presumably against this background.

On December 29, 2013, the Hamburg police issued a press release in which it was stated that the night before, the Davidwache had been "u. a. People masked with St. Pauli scarves “were visited who chanted slogans against the police. Several officers who then came out of the station were "targeted and abruptly attacked by throwing stones and bottles" at the corner of Davidstrasse and Reeperbahn . One of the policemen suffered a broken jaw and nose and a cut in the face "when one of the perpetrators hit him in the face with a stone at close range," a policewoman was sprayed with pepper spray in the eyes and another officer was injured in the stomach. All three were injured so badly that they had to be hospitalized. Police President Wolfgang Kopitzsch emphasized in the same press release that such “targeted and massive attacks on police officers” were unbearable. He was appalled "at the violence in which our officers were injured, sometimes seriously." The Hamburg public prosecutor assessed this act as an attempted homicide. The Hamburg Police Union no longer ruled out the use of firearms for self-defense "given such brutality" . The use of stun guns and stun guns was also discussed. On January 1, 2014, several hundred police officers and relatives demonstrated with a vigil under the motto "More respect and appreciation for our police".

On January 4, 2014, the Hamburg police declared the districts of Altona-Altstadt , St. Pauli and Sternschanze as well as parts of Altona-Nord , an area in which around 80,000 people live, to be a danger area under police law for an indefinite period. This gave the police the power to stop people at short notice, question them, determine their identities and inspect the belongings they were carrying, even if there were no particular reasons. According to their own information, this gave the police the opportunity to check relevant groups and to get them out of anonymity. The reasons for the measure were repeated attacks against police officers, some of whom were seriously injured, and explicitly the three attacks against the police station guards and the violent clashes surrounding the demonstration on December 21, 2013. The measures would make it clear that the Hamburg police force exhausted all legal possibilities to protect the life and limb of their officers. They should be carried out with a sense of proportion and should not place undue stress on residents or visitors to the entertainment district.

After the lawyer Andreas Beuth had questioned the official version of the attack on the Davidwache on December 28, 2013 in several interviews and publications and other witnesses had presented the events around the Davidwache differently than the police, a police press spokesman said that the victims of the attack were there were no officers coming from the Davidwache and the incident did not take place in front of the guard, but about 150 to 200 meters away on the corner of Hein-Hoyer-Strasse and Seilerstrasse. In an interview on Deutschlandfunk , Hamburg's Senator for the Interior, Michael Neumann, repeated the portrayal of the police that the perpetrators had thrown stones into the face of a police officer at close range.

According to a publication by the Spiegel , which refers to an internal paper by the State Criminal Police Office, it was already clear at the beginning of January that there was no evidence of left-wing autonomous perpetrators for the violation of the officer. Since police chief Wolfgang Kopitzsch had stated about the incident, "Violence as a means of achieving political goals is completely unsuitable and counterproductive", the impression that blame was assigned erroneously arose. On January 23, the Hamburger Abendblatt reported on statements within the police that differed greatly.

On January 9, 2014, the Hamburg police reduced the danger area to three so-called danger islands in the vicinity of police stations 15, 16 and 21. Four days later, the measures were finally lifted. According to official evaluations, between January 4 and 9, 2014, there were a total of 756 checks on people by the police, 172 residence bans and twelve evictions , 65 people were detained and four people were provisionally arrested. Between January 9 and 13, 2014, the police stopped 237 people; in 23 cases they were banned from staying and in two cases they were sent off. One person was taken into custody.

At the end of January 2014 it became known that the Hamburg police had not found any “ explosives ” in the defined danger area , as Interior Senator Michael Neumann (SPD) had initially claimed to justify. The perpetrators who carried out the attack on the Davidwache and the emergency vehicles on December 28 also remained unknown.

Protests, criticism and reactions

Banners on a residential building in St. Pauli, protests against the declared danger area in January 2014

Since January 5, 2014, there have been several spontaneous demonstrations against the danger area, sometimes with several hundred participants. On January 5, 2014, the police formed a cauldron around more than 50 demonstrators , took 44 of them into custody and held them overnight. A subsequent spontaneous demonstration was broken up by the police. A few months later, the Hamburg Administrative Court ruled in 17 recognition judgments and found the police action to be illegal. On January 7, 2014, a demonstration train that was created at Park Fiction and ran through St. Pauli grew to up to 600 people. The march ended with rioting and arrests. On January 9, 2014, 600 people took part in a Critical Mass . Even after it was lifted on January 13, 2014, around 800 students protested against the danger area on the same day. On January 18, 2014, several thousand people again protested against the policies of the Hamburg Senate and for the removal of the police authority to set up danger areas .

A toilet brush became a symbol of the protests after the securing of such an object was shown in a report on the danger area with a short film sequence in the night magazine of the Tagesschau on January 7, 2014.

In a comment in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on January 8, 2014, Heribert Prantl deals with the SPD and its domestic politics. About Neumann he says literally: “Neumann's anti-refugee policy could come from the wildest times of the CSU . And the way in which Neumann interpreted and implemented police law after the Hamburg riots is unparalleled in Germany. "

Hamburg's First Mayor Olaf Scholz defended the measures. The danger areas had and would continue to prove themselves. Interior Senator Michael Neumann stated that the danger areas had significantly reduced the number of violations found, making the danger areas a success story. The SPD and CDU defended the measures as a preventive fight against criminal offenses. The opposition parties Die Linke, Die Grünen and the FDP have criticized the establishment of the danger zone. In particular, the legal legitimation and proportionality were questioned. In addition, the current situation does not require this facility. Some lawyers consider a danger area, especially in such a large area and without time limit, to be unconstitutional and are examining legal steps. The media response was divided: some media described the danger areas as “justified” and “understandable”, others criticized the decision. At the same time they reported that the majority of Hamburg's citizens considered the establishment of a danger area to be “right and appropriate”.

On January 7, 2014, the US embassy called on its citizens to exercise increased caution in the danger zone. This is particularly true "in the vicinity of large gatherings, protests or demonstrations".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NDR.de Neumann defends Hamburg police tactics ( memento from January 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR.de from January 6, 2014.
  2. ^ "There is no political problem in Hamburg" . In: fr-online.de from January 7, 2014
  3. ↑ Political parties criticize the police: "Inappropriate muscle game", Abendblatt.de, January 11, 2014
  4. ^ Judgment. Hamburg Higher Administrative Court , May 13, 2015, accessed on June 28, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Hamburgisches OVG · Judgment of May 13, 2015 · Az. 4 Bf 226/12. Openjur , May 13, 2015, accessed June 28, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Hamburg danger areas unconstitutional ( memento of May 13, 2015 in the Internet Archive ), NDR , May 13, 2015
  7. ↑ Antonia Thiele: Doubts about the attack on Davidwache are increasing. Hamburger Abendblatt , January 7, 2016, accessed on June 28, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Repeated attacks on police officers and police facilities - Hamburg police set up danger area. Press release from the Hamburg police on January 3, 2014
  9. ↑ Press release from the Hamburg police on December 29, 2013 , accessed on January 19, 2014
  10. ^ Riots in Hamburg: injured in another attack on the police station . In: Spiegel.online of December 29, 2013.
  11. ↑ Attorney General charges police leadership . In: Abendblatt.de from February 1, 2014.
  12. ↑ End of the debate . In: taz.de from January 4, 2014
  13. ↑ 500 police officers and relatives demonstrate against violence . In: Abendblatt.de from January 1, 2014
  14. ↑ see Citizenship Document 20/10437, answer of the Senate to a small question of January 14, 2014
  15. ↑ Repeated attacks on police officers and police facilities - Hamburg police set up danger area. Press release from the Hamburg police on January 3, 2014
  16. ↑ Wasn't there a second attack on the Davidwache? . In: publikative.org of January 5, 2014
  17. ↑ Davidwache: Eyewitnesses contradict the police In: publikative.org of January 12, 2014
  18. ↑ Attack on the Hamburg Davidwache: eyewitnesses contradict representation by the police, Spiegel online from January 7, 2014
  19. ↑ In Hamburg there is no tolerance for criminals . In: deutschlandfunk.de of January 8, 2014
  20. ↑ Note brings Hamburg police chief in need of explanation . In: spiegel.de from January 19, 2014
  21. ↑ NDR Info from January 19, 2014: Did Hamburg's police chief make a premature statement? ( Memento from February 23, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  22. ^ Riot in front of Davidwache: contradictions and new findings mobil.abendblatt.de from January 23, 2014
  23. ↑ POL-HH: 140109-3. Establishment of the danger area successful - reorganization to the areas Hamburg-St. Pauli, Altona-Nord and Sternschanze . In: presseportal.de from January 9, 2014
  24. ↑ Controversy over "Rote Flora": Police lift danger areas in Hamburg
  25. ↑ Information on setting up a danger area. Explanations of the events in connection with the meeting on December 21, 2013 and the establishment of a danger area (status: January 15, 2014). In: hamburg.de.
  26. ↑ Everything is guaranteed In: taz.de of January 27, 2014
  27. ↑ Attack on the Davidwache: perpetrators still unknown. In: hh-mittendrin.de.
  28. ↑ Spontaneous demonstration against danger area . In: hh-mittendrin.de from January 5, 2014
  29. ↑ The police are also not allowed to do everything Taz.de from August 24, 2014
  30. ↑ USA warn citizens against traveling to Hamburg . In: zeit.de of January 7, 2014
  31. ↑ Hamburg police arrest rioters . In: Sueddeutsche.de of January 8, 2014.
  32. ↑ Bicycle demo: 600 cyclists on "island tour" . In: mopo.de from January 10, 2014
  33. ↑ Hamburg police lifts danger areas ( Memento from January 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) ndr.de from January 13, 2014
  34. ↑ Demo against danger areas remains peaceful ( Memento from January 19, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) in: ndr.de from January 18, 2014
  35. ^ Riots in Hamburg: snapshots from the "danger area" . In: spiegel.de of January 9, 2014
  36. ↑ Online protest targets Hamburg 'danger zone' . In: stream.aljazeera.com from January 9, 2014
  37. ↑ The toilet brush as a subversive form of protest. Video. In: tagesschau.de. January 10, 2014.
  38. ↑ Heribert Prantl: Why the SPD has to learn from the SPD. In: Süddeutsche.de . January 6, 2014.
  39. ↑ Scholz defends his tough course . In: Süddeutsche.de of January 13, 2014.
  40. ↑ Interior Senator on Danger Areas - “It's about acts of violence” . In: taz.de from January 12, 2014.
  41. ↑ Police controlled hundreds in the Hamburg danger area. In: Zeit Online . January 6, 2014.
  42. ↑ Sebastian Hammelehle: Hamburg: Police checked 200 people in the danger area. In: Spiegel Online . 5th January 2014.
  43. ↑ Kersten Augustin: Rote Flora. Lawyers criticize Hamburg's danger zone. In: Zeit Online , January 7, 2014. Retrieved January 8, 2014.
  44. ↑ Kiez as a danger area: Serious intervention, but justified . In: Hamburger Morgenpost.de from January 4, 2014
  45. ↑ Solidarity: 50,000 clicks are encouraging . In: Hamburger Abendblatt.de from January 4, 2014
  46. ↑ Sebastian Hammelehle: Missing symbol politics in Hamburg: tanks instead of brains. In: Spiegel Online . 5th January 2014.
  47. ^ "The way the police are currently acting, arguments are attracted." ( Memento of January 7, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: br.de.de from January 7, 2014.
  48. ↑ The majority think the danger zone is appropriate ( memento of January 17, 2014 in the Internet Archive ). In: NDR.de from January 14, 2014.
  49. ↑ Most Hamburgers thought the danger area was correct . In: Hamburger Morgenpost from January 16, 2014.
  50. ↑ US embassy warns citizens of the Hamburg danger zone . In: tagesspiegel.de from January 7, 2014.