militant group (mg)

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The militante group ( mg ) was a left-wing radical militant underground organization active in Germany , which first appeared in 2001. She saw attacks as a legitimate part of her “revolutionary struggle”, which she waged “on a social revolutionary and anti-imperialist communist basis”. In the Berlin , Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt area , she is charged with arson attacks and the dispatch of live ammunition. Furthermore, she initiated a “ militancy debate” within the radical left-wing magazine Interim . According to its own information, the group disbanded in July 2009. The investigative authorities see the Revolutionary Action Cells group as the successor to mg .

history

Early years

The militante group (mg) appeared for the first time in June 2001 by sending live ammunition to the government commissioner for the compensation of forced laborers , Otto Graf Lambsdorff , and to the two representatives of the foundation initiative of the German economy , Wolfgang Gibowski and Manfred Gentz . In an accompanying letter of confession, the compensation payments for the forced laborers under National Socialism were described as too low and criticized that these compensations were intended to "draw a line" under the German past. At about the same time, on June 22, 2001, an arson attack was carried out on a vehicle belonging to the Daimler-Benz Berlin branch. In a letter of confession, the Daimler-Benz group was accused of having been one of the leading beneficiaries of forced labor and of being one of the driving forces behind the “cynical compensation spectacle” today.

As a result, the militant group (mg) claimed responsibility for further arson attacks. These and the associated letters of confession related to the issues of social cuts , anti-imperialism , repression and anti-fascism and compensation for forced laborers. It is noticeable that the group tried to take up current social debates and conflicts and to influence them. For example, in autumn 2004, at the height of the protests against Hartz IV, she confessed to arson attacks against a social welfare office and a district office .

Activity of the Federal Criminal Police Office

The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) investigated mg for the formation of a terrorist organization on behalf of the Attorney General from 2001 to 2007 . On November 28, 2007, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that mg was not a terrorist organization (according to Section 129a of the Criminal Code ) and thus questioned the competence of the Federal Prosecutor's Office. At the same time, the Karlsruhe court suspended the arrest warrants against three alleged MG members.

The BKA participated in a "militancy debate" conducted in the magazine Interim in 2005 with two texts written under the cover name "The two from the Muppet Show ". In addition to the attempt to "provoke a reaction from the 'militante group' (mg)" (note in a state handbook of the BKA), alleged members and sympathizers of the group should also be lured to the website of the BKA ( honeypots ). in order to identify you by means of your IP address stored by the Internet service provider . The two texts were introduced in 2009 as evidence in the ongoing process to demonstrate how the mg promoted and prepared acts of violence.

Reporting in focus

On November 8, 2003, the magazine Focus claimed in a preliminary report that the BKA knew the identity of four members of the militant group and that they were being investigated on suspicion of forming a terrorist group under Section 129a of the Criminal Code . Numerous media spread the message in which four men from Berlin were named by first name and abbreviated surname. It was alleged that one of the men had direct contact with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder . In an article published two days later, however, the Focus relativized its claims by quoting a “connoisseur of the case” with the words: “We are still missing some solid evidence.” One of the named people is said to have passed almost a year earlier have experienced a billing error from their mobile operator that their cell phone has been tapped. In a reply published in the Berliner Kurier , one of the named denies any involvement in the attacks and membership in the militant group (mg). He also disagrees with claims that he changed his phone behavior after learning about phone surveillance . According to reports in the magazine ak - analyze und kritik, the four accused have taken legal action against Focus and other media that printed the report. The investigation against the four Berliners named in Focus was closed in September 2008 without any result.

Investigations

On August 1, 2007, arrest warrants were issued against the four Berliners Florian L., Oliver Rast , Axel H. and Andrej Holm on suspicion of membership in a terrorist organization. Florian L., Oliver R. and Axel H. are said to have tried to set fire to three Bundeswehr vehicles on July 31, 2007 in Brandenburg / Havel .

The investigations against Andrej Holm and three other Berliners for membership in the "mg" began in 2006. Matthias B., who was also accused but not arrested, was attested that he had “the intellectual and factual prerequisites required to write the comparatively demanding texts of the militant group” and that, as a scientist, he had the opportunity to do the necessary library research to be carried out inconspicuously. In their publications, both scientists use the terms “ precarization ” and “ gentrification ”, which also appear in the letters of responsibility of the “mg”. According to the lawyers, the Federal Prosecutor's Office evaluates these facts as indications that speak in favor of membership in the “mg”. The Federal Prosecutor's Office denies, however, that the accusations are based essentially on such textual similarities, but without citing other indications.

After Andrej Holm met twice with Florian L. in spring 2007, the latter was included in the investigation and the observations. Holm probably didn't take his cell phone with him to these meetings and arranged to meet via an anonymous email account. The Federal Prosecutor's Office sees this as an indication of the conspiratorial nature of the meetings. Oliver Rast was targeted by the investigative authorities because Florian L. was in contact with him. Axel H. did not become known to the federal prosecutor until he was arrested on July 31, 2007.

The four suspects receive support from international scientists who fear for the freedom of science in view of the allegations against Andrej Holm: “Precarisation” and “gentrification” are common sociological terms. There is also an “Open letter to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office against the criminalization of critical science and political engagement” on the Internet. Andrej Holm was released from pretrial detention on August 23, 2007, subject to conditions. On October 24, 2007, the arrest warrant was overturned by the Federal Court of Justice due to insufficient suspicion.

The Federal Court of Justice announced that it would review the extent to which Paragraph 129a could apply to arson and the other alleged acts of the "mg", and found in its ruling of November 28, 2007 that the crimes accused of the mg were not sufficient, " [to] damage a state or an international organization considerably by the nature of their inspection or their effects ”. As a result, the reasons for imprisonment under Section 129a of the Criminal Code no longer apply to the three remaining inmates. The Federal Court of Justice decided that the reasons presented by the Federal Prosecutor's Office could only be sufficient for an indictment under Section 129 StGB (formation of criminal associations ) and suspended the arrest warrants against Florian L., Oliver R. and Axel H. against conditions.

On June 21, 2008 charges were brought against the accused before the State Security Senate of the Berlin Court of Appeal. In October 2009, the accused were sentenced to between three and three and a half years imprisonment for membership in a criminal organization and attempted arson. 1,000 people demonstrated nationwide on the day the verdict was pronounced under the motto "Fire and Flame of Repression" and expressed their solidarity with the convicted.

The proceedings against Holm were discontinued on July 5, 2010 according to §170 II StPO (“no sufficient suspicion”).

The lawyers of the three convicts appealed against the verdict and the convicts remained free until the decision was made. At the end of June 2011 the appeal was rejected by the Federal Court of Justice.

In June 2010, the Federal Court of Justice criticized the investigations of the Federal Prosecutor's Office, which, in addition to monitoring the suspects, had recorded tens of thousands of telephone calls and e-mails over a period of five years as unlawful. This surveillance was justified with an opinion by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution , which for its part was "insufficiently substantiated with facts".

Declaration of dissolution

On July 7th, 2009 the magazine Radikal published a declaration of dissolution of the militant group. It said: "We are dissolving here and now as 'mg'". Internal disputes were named as reasons. In addition, the “mg” claimed responsibility for further attacks.

Chronology of the alleged attacks

The group was charged with 25 arson attacks, the property damage amounted to approx. 840,000 euros.

date Art
June 2001 Sending threatening letters and live ammunition to the government commissioner for the compensation of the forced laborers, Otto Graf Lambsdorff , and to the representatives of the "Foundation Initiative of German Business"
June 22, 2001 Arson attack on a vehicle of the Daimler-Benz branch in Berlin-Marienfelde
February 5, 2002 Attempted arson attack on the Social Welfare Office in Berlin-Reinickendorf as well as sending a letter of confession, a sharp cartridge and a knife to the Social Councilor of Reinickendorf, Frank Balzer ( CDU ), who is referred to in the letter of confession as the "personification of everyday social office terror"
April 29, 2002 Arson attack on vehicles of the Daimler-Chrysler branch in Großziethen
January 1, 2003 Arson attack on the Berlin-Neukölln tax office
February 26, 2003 Arson attack on two Bundeswehr vehicles in Petershagen
September 18, 2003 Arson attack on the higher regional court in Naumburg (Saale) and a vehicle of the branch office of the public prosecutor's office in Halle (Saale) in Naumburg
October 2003 Arson attack on ALBA AG vehicles in Berlin-Reinickendorf
January 1, 2004 Arson attack on the headquarters of the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin
March 30, 2004 Arson attack against the “MoZArT” project run by the North Berlin Employment Office and the Berlin-Pankow Social Welfare Office
May 7, 2004 Arson attack on Deutsche Telekom AG vehicles in Berlin-Wedding
September 23, 2004 Arson attacks on an administrative facility of the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act in the Berlin-Reinickendorf district office and on the Berlin-Tempelhof-Schöneberg social welfare office
January 10, 2005 Arson attack on a new building of the Lidl discount store in Berlin
April 29, 2005 Arson attacks on vehicles of the Ministry for Rural Development, Environment and Consumer Protection (MLUV) in Potsdam and a private vehicle of a police officer in Berlin-Reinickendorf
November 2005 Arson attack on the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) in Berlin-Steglitz
February 17, 2006 Arson attack on a Renault branch in Berlin-Reinickendorf
February 2006 Attempted arson attack on a vehicle at the Center Français de Berlin in Berlin-Wedding
March 20, 2006 Arson attack on the vehicle fleet of the Berlin Treptow-Köpenick public order office
April 9, 2006 Arson attack on a police headquarters in Berlin
May 5, 2006 Arson attack on two service vehicles of the Berlin police in Berlin-Lichtenrade . In their letter of confession, the group criticized the police operation on May 1st in Berlin.
May 24, 2006 Arson attack on the social court in Berlin-Mitte
July 20, 2006 Arson attack on a car dealership in Berlin-Mitte
September 4, 2006 Arson attack on two official vehicles of the Federal Police in Berlin-Lichtenberg . The reason for this attack is given by the mg in its letter of self-allegation that five refugees and one escape helper were killed in a car after a police chase.
September 11, 2006 Arson attack on four official vehicles of the Berlin-Reinickendorf public order office
December 20, 2006 Arson attack on the garages of a doctor's practice in Dessau and thrown paint bags on the house of a senior police officer in Wolfen ; The background is the death of Oury Jalloh : The mg accuses the doctor of taking blood from Oury Jalloh and making racist statements after his death , the police officer, as a duty group leader, of ignoring the fire alarm from Jalloh's cell and switching it off twice.
January 15, 2007 Arson attack on vehicles of the Federal Police in Oranienburg . The reason given by the militant group is that the Federal Police is the central “executive organ of persecution and deportation of migrants and refugees in the FRG”.

The action was supposed to intervene directly in the "deportation machinery" and represent an example of militant anti-racism. In addition, this attack is the first contribution to the "militant campaign against the G8 summit".

March 16, 2007 Arson attack on an office complex of the Association of Turkish Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Germany. V. in Berlin. In a letter of confession that emerged three days later, the authors dealt with the International Day of Action for the Freedom of Political Prisoners .
May 18, 2007 Arson attacks on two police vehicles in Berlin-Spandau . The letter of confession that emerged four days later explains the reasons for the attack - among other things, these were related to the raids before the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007 .
January 14, 2009 Arson attack on the social court in Potsdam
January 14, 2009 Arson attack on a job center of the employment agency in Berlin-Charlottenburg
February 26, 2009 Arson attack on a radio car of the German armed forces in Burg (Saxony-Anhalt)

Political and strategic positions

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office , the militant group has a communist ideological basis. In a letter of confession, a “revolutionary organization that gives itself the structure of a party ” was named as a long-term goal. Furthermore, the “mg” calls for the radical left movement to be strengthened and supported. Another excerpt from a theory paper of the “mg” makes it clear “that for the socio-economic conditions in the FRG only a discussion, for example the organizational structure of the PCE (r) Grapo or the BR / PCC, is perspective. (...) ".

In 2003, mg wrote a contribution on the occasion of the appeal on June 27, 1993 - 10 years after the death of Wolfgang Grams . Do not believe the lies of the murderers! No forgive no Forget! Organize the struggle for liberation together! , which had previously been published in left-wing magazines. In it she expressed her fundamental opposition to the existing political system of the Federal Republic of Germany: “We consider it a politically helpless gesture to want to draw attention to alleged 'violations' of individual 'civil legal principles' without showing or demonstrating the inherent character of class justice . to neglect this ". The liberal constitutional state would “ hallucinate ' all-embracing human rights ' in which members of the revolutionary left would have to participate. On the basis of a capitalist social formation , however, 'human rights' inherently fall by the wayside every second ”.

The mg accordingly applies harsh criticism of (potential) “left-liberal allies”: “ Left-liberal forces have also historically been, since communists began making politics, never a catalyst for emancipation worthy of the name. On the contrary, they saw their role much more in channeling and depoliticizing ... social conflicts and not in revolutionizing them in terms of content, practice and organization ”. Left-liberals are “ultimately apologists for the ruling order and its socially critical facade. ... Your softened “opposition” serves the state to document its supposed “degree of liberality” in relation to divergent political opinions ”. In addition, these "civil society figures are completely irrelevant in terms of numbers and influence" and have "no outstanding (intellectual) minds as in the 1970s". That is why the mg is calling for “farewell to (fictitious) left-wing liberalism and civil society that are part of the alliance”.

In public, the militant group (mg) is assigned to the left-wing autonomous environment.

Web links

literature

  • Alliance for the discontinuation of §129 (a) proceedings: The tender little plant of solidarity poured. Regarding the proceedings and the trial for membership in the militant group (mg). edition assemblage , Münster 2011. ISBN 978-3-942885-00-3
  • Frank Brunner: With all severity. How police and state security hunt left-wing radicals, Lübbe 2017 ISBN 978-3-404-60959-8

Individual evidence

  1. Netzeitung: How left-wing terrorists lead the police astray ( Memento from March 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. Tagesschau from November 28, 2007 ( Memento from February 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. heise.de: BKA honeypot www.bka.de . March 28, 2009.
  4. Harald Neuber: Militant Investigators , telepolis, April 1, 2009
  5. Telepolis: "Gentrification" and "Prekarisierung"
  6. Telepolis.de on the arrests
  7. Press release by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office on the arrests
  8. Press release by the lawyers on the arrests
  9. ↑ Suspicion of terrorism: Harms defends arrest warrants , Tagesspiegel of August 25, 2007
  10. How do you become a terrorist? Content of the construct of the §129 (a) procedure
  11. Open letter to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office
  12. Time: Berlin sociologist released
  13. ^ Federal Court of Justice: arrest warrant against Berlin sociologists repealed
  14. Telepolis: Andrej H., § 129a and the suspicious terms
  15. http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=pm&Datum=2007&Sort=3&nr=41882&pos=0&anz=181
  16. ^ Berliner Morgenpost : Bundeswehr attack - indictment against left-wing extremists in Berlin
  17. Charges against alleged left-wing extremists ( memento of February 16, 2010 in the Internet Archive ), tagesschau.de of July 28, 2008
  18. Extremists convicted of attack by the German armed forces . Die Welt, October 16, 2009.
  19. Over 1000 show solidarity with convicts in the mg process , Alliance for the Discontinuation of Section 129a Proceedings, October 17, 2009.
  20. Tagesspiegel from June 30, 2011
  21. Junge Welt: Berlin anti-militarists have to go to jail on June 28, 2011
  22. ^ Judges reprimand the public prosecutor's office in Der Spiegel, issue No. 25, June 21, 2010, p. 17
  23. ^ Reprimand for Big Brother , Wolf Schmidt in taz, June 20, 2010 [1]
  24. ^ To Radical Direction in Young World of June 8, 2009
  25. Federal Agency for Civic Education Politics> Extremism> Left-wing extremism> Current situation, groups and currents> militante group. Accessed March 9, 2017.
  26. http://www.spd-oelshausen.de/download/verfassungsschutzbericht200417-05-2005.pdf%7C page 140
  27. http://www.spd-oelshausen.de/download/verfassungsschutzbericht200417-05-2005.pdf%7C page 140
  28. http://www.spd-oelshausen.de/download/verfassungsschutzbericht200417-05-2005.pdf%7C page 141
  29. http://www.spd-oelshausen.de/download/verfassungsschutzbericht200417-05-2005.pdf%7C page 141
  30. State security investigates after arson attack in Mitte
  31. ^ Die Welt: Arms Race in the Hanseatic City
  32. Documentation of the explanation of the crime related to the arson attacks in Spandau, in: Interim, No. 657, p. 20.
  33. a b c Federal Ministry of the Interior: Constitutional Protection Report 2009, p. 144 f. Online version ( Memento from July 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  34. Militanz - Documentation of a debate May 1, 2003 ( Memento of February 15, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  35. Interim No. 569, April 3, 2003; Relatives Info No. 271, April 14, 2003; Rote Hilfe Zeitung 2/2003
  36. Uwe Schünemann, The Underestimated Danger - Left-Wing Extremism in Germany , Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung , Sankt Augustin 2008, p. 11 ( online (PDF; 250 kB), accessed on June 23, 2010)
  37. Puzzling confession letter appeared in Leipzig , from January 25th, 2010 ( online  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Accessed June 23, 2010)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.mdr.de  
  38. BGH reprimands terror investigators: "Insufficient suspicion of crime" against left-wing extremists , in: Stern from June 20, 2010 ( online , accessed on June 23, 2010)