Sven Lau

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Sven Lau (2010)

Sven Lau (born October 14, 1980 in Mönchengladbach ), also known under the pseudonym Abu Adam ( Arabic ابو آدم), is a German former Islamist preacher and activist. The convert was considered one of the most famous faces of the German Salafism scene and was described by the media as a " hate preacher ". Lau was sentenced to five years and six months in prison in 2017 for supporting a foreign terrorist organization. In May 2019, after serving two-thirds of the sentence, he was released early from custody because, in the opinion of the court, he had distanced himself from Salafism and was participating in a dropout program.

Education, job, family

Lau comes from a Catholic family . In 1998 he obtained the technical college entrance qualification and then completed an apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic . According to his own testimony, he converted to Sunni Islam during this time . After completing basic military service , Lau was a member of the Mönchengladbach professional fire brigade from 2003 to 2008 , where he was trained as a fire chief in the middle service .

Lau is married for a second time and has five children. According to media reports, he has lived in Düsseldorf since September 2014 .

Sven Lau (left) together with Pierre Vogel at a rally in Freiburg in June 2014

Activist in the German Salafist scene

In his mid-twenties, Lau began to devote himself entirely to Daʿwa , the Islamic mission, and ran a shop in Mönchengladbach selling Islamic clothing, literature and religious accessories .

Lau was a supporter of the German Salafist convert and preacher Pierre Vogel . Like Vogel, Lau spread Islamist messages in mosques, at rallies and in YouTube videos.

Disputes over an invitation to paradise in Mönchengladbach

Lau was temporarily the chairman of the Salafist association, registered in Mönchengladbach and now dissolved, Invitation to Paradise e. V. (EZP). In August 2010 it became known that the EZP association was planning to build an “Islamic school” in the Mönchengladbach district of Eicken . This led to protests by residents and the founding of a citizens' initiative against the project, which was largely run by the Salafist Imam Muhamed Ciftci and Lau and which was finally abandoned in August 2011.

In the first half of 2011 there were several incidents in Mönchengladbach, including arson, which Lau and the EZP association referred to as "attacks". In June 2011, Lau was briefly arrested and interrogated by the state security because he was suspected of having set fire to the basement of an apartment building together with two accomplices, and then portraying himself as a victim of an arson attack. In January 2012, the investigation was discontinued in the absence of sufficient suspicion .

Since Lau testified as a witness in the spring of 2012 in a trial of a fight between the defendants (two carnivalists and a Salafist) that he had beaten a man himself, the Mönchengladbach public prosecutor initiated proceedings against him for dangerous bodily harm .

Stays in Egypt and Syria

Since 2012, Lau has been in Egypt for a while together with other Salafists from Germany . In June 2013, he was refused entry by Egyptian security forces at Cairo International Airport . Since September 2013, Lau has appeared in public repeatedly as a member of the Neuss association Helfen in Not , an organization that finances , among other things, the transport of discarded ambulances to Syria . The association is monitored by the protection of the constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia . There are indications that the organization is an “extremist Salafist endeavor”. In an interview with WDR in February 2014, Lau stated that he had already been to Syria three times during the civil war to provide humanitarian aid . Lau also stated in the interview that the German authorities had withdrawn his passport in order to prevent him from further trips to Syria.

Criminal proceedings for politically motivated crimes

Lau was arrested in February 2014 in Mönchengladbach by police and arrived in Mannheim in custody . The responsible public prosecutor in Stuttgart accused him of having recruited German citizens for military service in a military facility. This is a "serious act of violence that endangers the state". The Federal Prosecutor General - the highest authority for the prosecution of politically motivated crimes - stated that there are at most “vague indications” for a suspicion of terrorism. Therefore the procedure was taken over by the Stuttgart public prosecutor. In connection with the investigation against Lau, a telephone call that the journalist Marie Delhaes had with him was tapped by the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office and the minutes of this telephone call were then recorded in the investigation files. The journalist worked on a documentary about Lau for the TV magazine Zapp . As part of the criminal proceedings, Delhaes also received a subpoena to be questioned as a witness. The journalist relied on her right to refuse to testify and criticized the actions of the security authorities. In May 2014, Lau was released from custody at the request of the public prosecutor. According to the Stuttgart public prosecutor, the charges against him will be withdrawn because there are doubts as to whether the allegations against Lau are sufficient for a conviction. In North Rhine-Westphalia there is still an investigation into suspected terrorism against Lau. During a testimony on December 17, 2014 before the Higher Regional Court in Stuttgart, he relied on the right to refuse to testify for this reason.

Lau's passport was revoked by the city of Mönchengladbach in 2015, against which he complained but lost it.

Relocation of the place of work to Wuppertal

The so-called Darul Arqam Mosque (white building in the background, left upper floor), Lau's place of work from May 2014

In May 2014, a mosque and Salafist meeting place known as Darul Arqam (House of Arqam ) was founded in Wuppertal on the upper floor of a commercial building on Klophausstrasse and advertised as a meeting point for local Islamists by Lau and Pierre Vogel, who also preached there. The lease has now been terminated.

Appearances as Shariah Police in Wuppertal and as Pro Halāl in Düsseldorf

In September 2014, Lau and other Salafist activists in Wuppertal approached visitors in the entrance area of ​​amusement arcades and restaurants and, according to reports in the Westdeutsche Zeitung , urged Muslim citizens to give up gambling and alcohol consumption. At the same time, they advertised a visit to the Darul Arqam Mosque with business cards . They wore Signal vests with the inscription Shariah Police ( English for " Sharia - Police and yellow signs with") pictograms to alcohol, gambling, music, pornography, drugs and prostitution under the label Shariah Controlled Zone for "Sharia-controlled (English zone. "). The action generated considerable media coverage. The Central Council of Muslims in Germany and the Association of Wuppertal Mosques condemned the action.

A spokesman for the Wuppertal public prosecutor's office stated that although “mere recommendation of religious rules” is not a criminal offense, proceedings have been initiated against eleven activists for violating the assembly law. The Tagesspiegel criticized the proceedings of the public prosecutor's office and the reports in the Westdeutsche Zeitung, with reference to religious freedom and comparable actions by the Salvation Army as excessive and unsuitable for combating extremists; the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented that “presumption of office is not a coup d'état ”, but warned against “being caught up in calculated provocations […]”.

In a video published on his website, Lau presented the action as a one-off campaign: The “Shariah Police” never really existed, and his goal was to initiate a discussion about Islamic legislation in Germany. He announced that he wanted to set up an “anti- haraam team” that would go into “all the dark alleys” to “invite people who have been forgotten for years to the mosque”. NRW Interior Minister Ralf Jäger , Federal Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière and Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasized the state's monopoly on the use of force ; According to Merkel, no one is authorized to “sneak into the role of the state”, which is why “the beginnings must be defended”.

As a result of this action, the number of visitors to the Darul Arqam Mosque , which had collapsed before, rose sharply, according to Laus.

According to police and media reports, Lau and his group campaigned for a Sharia-compliant lifestyle in Düsseldorf in September 2014 under the motto Pro Halāl and without uniforms .

At the end of August 2015, the Wuppertal public prosecutor brought charges against Lau and eight other men for alleged violations of the uniform ban against Lau and eight other men due to a Sharia police action on September 3, 2014 , whereby Lau is suspected of being the initiator of the action. The Second Large Criminal Chamber of the Wuppertal Regional Court has rejected the prosecution's indictment against nine participants between the ages of 24 and 35 around the preacher Sven Lau because of their appearance as so-called Sharia police and not admitted to the main hearing. In response, the prosecutor applied to the remedy of appeal to the Higher Regional Court Dusseldorf , which allowed the charges against eight of the nine defendants on May 3, 2016th A chamber of the regional court in Wuppertal ruled that wearing safety vests, some with the "Sharia Police" imprint, did not violate the ban on uniforms. The Federal Supreme Court overturned these acquittals on January 11, 2018 and referred the case back to another chamber of the regional court for renegotiation.

Observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution

According to various media reports, Lau is under observation by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution .

Criminal trial on suspicion of supporting terrorism

On December 15, 2015 Lau was arrested and remand arranged against him. The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office accuses him of supporting a foreign terrorist organization ( § 129a , § 129b StGB) in four cases; he had supported the Syrian jihadist-Salafist organization Jaish al-Muhadschirin wal-Ansar (JAMWA).

By order of 10 March 2016 rejected federal court a complaint louse, so it because of absconding still in custody had to stay.

On April 12, 2016, the attorney general said that 2016 charges against Lau for providing support to foreign terrorist organization Jamwa before April 8, State Security Division of the Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf has been raised. Lau is said to have acted as a link to JAMWA and in 2013 obtained three night vision devices for Islamist fighters in Syria, helped two men to leave for Syria and brought money to one of them. He himself has traveled to Syria several times. The charges were admitted in full. The process began on September 6, 2016.

On July 26, 2017, Lau was sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment in four cases for supporting a foreign terrorist organization . The trial comprised 53 days of hearing, during which 38 witnesses and two experts were heard. According to his own information, Lau's lawyer appealed for appeal . After review by the Federal Court of Justice , the judgment became legally binding on April 4, 2018.

In May 2019 State Protection Senate sat the Higher Regional Court of Dusseldorf - after serving two thirds of his sentence - the enforcement of Laus remaining sentence under probation from ( parole ). He has distanced himself from his radical Islamic past and is taking part in a dropout program for Islamists. The probation period is five years. The probation conditions include a. determining the place of residence, bans on contact and residence, continued participation in the dropout program and maintaining close contact with a probation officer. The Federal Public Prosecutor waived his right to appeal, which means that the decision is final.

reception

Various German media described Lau as a hate preacher . Jörg Diehl, chief reporter at Spiegel Online , wrote in 2014: “Hardly anyone thinks he is a propagandist or hate preacher, drooling speeches are not his thing. Laus Masche is more of a buddy tour. He makes big, wise brother - which doesn't have to be less dangerous. Especially since Lau has now perfectly mastered the game with the media and public opinion. "

At the end of 2019, Lau was interviewed by the film producer Sascha Bisley . Lau has admitted mistakes and distanced himself from radical Islamism, as various media reported.

literature

  • Ulrich Kraetzer: Salafism as a youth culture: the provocateur Pierre Vogel. In: Ders .: Salafists: A threat to Germany? Gütersloher Verlags-Haus, Gütersloh 2014, ISBN 978-3-579-07064-3 , pp. 133-162.
  • Nina Wiedl, Carmen Becker: Popular preachers in German Salafism - Sven Lau: Daʿwa with emotion . In: Thorsten Gerald Schneiders (ed.): Salafism in Germany. Origins and dangers of an Islamic fundamentalist movement . Transcript, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-8376-2711-4 , pp. 197-201.

Web links

Commons : Sven Lau  - collection of images, videos and audio files

References and comments

  1. ↑ Abu Adam is Arabic and means "The father of Adam". Adam is the first name of a son of Sven Lau.
  2. ^ S. E.g. Convicted Salafist preacher released prematurely from prison . In: Zeit Online , May 16, 2019. Former Salafist preacher Sven Lau is released early . In: Spiegel Online , May 16, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  3. ↑ Nina Wiedl, Carmen Becker: Popular preachers in German Salafism - Sven Lau: Daʿwa with emotion . In: Thorsten Gerald Schneiders (ed.): Salafism in Germany. Origins and dangers of an Islamic fundamentalist movement . Transcript, Bielefeld 2014, ISBN 978-3-8376-2711-4 , pp. 197-201.
  4. ↑ a b Various media, including: Josef Kelnberger: appearance of a hate preacher . In: Süddeutsche Zeitung , December 18, 2014; German hate preacher: Sven Lau stayed in the camp of IS warriors in Syria . In: Focus Online , September 21, 2014; This is Sven Lau . In: RP Online , undated; Salafists in Cologne . In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger , September 23, 2014; Gerhard Voogt: Salafist video: This is how hate preachers Pierre-Vogel and Sven Lau praise the “Sharia police” . Express , September 7, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  5. ↑ See Anja Krüger: Sven Lau alias Abu Adam. Convert and fishermen of men . taz.de , September 7, 2014, accessed on September 8, 2014.
  6. ↑ Jörg Diehl, Julia Jüttner: A seducer in front of the court . In: Spiegel Online , September 6, 2016, accessed on September 6, 2016.
  7. ↑ Moved residence: Salafist preacher Sven Lau now lives in Düsseldorf . In: RP Online , September 11, 2014.
  8. ↑ Jörg Lau : Welcome to Paradise: How the Salafists failed in Mönchengladbach . In: Die Zeit , No. 42, October 13, 2011.
  9. ↑ Misogynist books confiscated - Nationwide police raids on mosques . Welt.de, January 20, 2010.
  10. ↑ Mönchengladbach: Islamists recruit young people . rp-online.de, August 6, 2010.
  11. ↑ Mönchengladbach: fight with Salafists . rp-online.de, March 8, 2011.
  12. ↑ Fire in apartment buildings: Islamist Sven Lau arrested , express.de, June 21, 2011
  13. ↑ Jan Schnettler: Mönchengladbach: Sven Lau is off the hook . rp-online.de, January 7, 2012.
  14. ^ Public prosecutor is investigating Salafist leader Sven Lau . express.de.
  15. ↑ a b cf .: Takis Würger: My friend, the Salafist . In: Der Spiegel , No. 11/2013, March 11, 2013, pp. 52–56 (PDF; 799 kB).
  16. ↑ Egypt deports German Islamist preacher , release dated June 8, 2013
  17. ^ Franz Feyder, Rüdiger Franz, Ayla Jacob, Frank Vallender: In full missionary zeal ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: General-Anzeiger, December 1, 2013, accessed September 6, 2016.
  18. ↑ Neuss Salafists under suspicion . In: Rheinische Post , September 19, 2013.
  19. ↑ Salafist preacher was in Syria . In: Westpol , February 9, 2014 (interview).
  20. ↑ Axel Spilcker: Hate preacher Sven Lau arrested on suspicion of terrorism. Focus online, February 24, 2014, accessed May 15, 2014 .
  21. ^ Salafist scene: Searches in Düsseldorf and Mönchengladbach, arrest in Mönchengladbach. Stuttgart public prosecutor's office, February 24, 2014, accessed May 15, 2014 .
  22. ↑ Franz Feyder: The slave and the fireman. Stuttgarter Zeitung , March 1, 2014, accessed on May 15, 2014 .
  23. ↑ a b Stefan Buchen, Marie Delhaes: Islamists: Investigations ensure influx. NDR, May 13, 2014, archived from the original on May 14, 2014 ; accessed on May 15, 2014 .
  24. ^ Journalist from the LKA bugged ( memento from May 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), NDR website from May 14, 2014
  25. ^ Sven Lau is free: indictment withdrawn , Rheinische Post of May 22, 2014
  26. ↑ Appearance of a hate preacher , Süddeutsche Zeitung, December 18, 2014
  27. ↑ Salafist Sven Lau is not allowed to participate in jihad . welt.de, April 30, 2015.
  28. ↑ a b c Police observe new Salafist meeting on Hesselnberg . In: Westdeutsche Zeitung , Wuppertal edition, May 27, 2014.
  29. ↑ Preacher Sven Lau: “We knew that it would attract attention” . Tagesspiegel.de, September 7, 2014.
  30. ↑ A visit to the Sharia police . In: Westdeutsche Zeitung , September 10, 2014.
  31. ↑ From the stoner to the head of the "Sharia police" . sueddeutsche.de, September 9, 2014.
  32. ^ Westdeutsche Zeitung: Wuppertal's police do not want to be offered anything by Salafists
  33. ↑ a b The Sharia Police Officer . handelsblatt.de, September 8, 2014.
  34. ↑ Central Council of Muslims railed against “Sharia police” . rp-online.de, September 6, 2014.
  35. ↑ Wuppertal's mosque associations distance themselves from "Sharia Police" . In: Westdeutsche Zeitung , Wuppertal edition, September 5, 2014.
  36. ↑ Malte Lehming: “Sharia Police” and freedom of religion: those who allow themselves to be provoked use the extremists . tagesspiegel.de, September 6, 2014.
  37. ↑ Justus Bender: “Sharia Police”: Calculated provocation . FAZ.NET , September 7, 2014.
  38. ↑ Islamists in Wuppertal: The head of the "Sharia police" . In: Spiegel Online , September 6, 2014.
  39. ↑ "By Allah's permission we come to all cities" . Welt.de , September 7, 2014; Retrieved September 9, 2014.
  40. ↑ Merkel criticizes the Sharia police as a provocation. In: Rheinische Post , September 9, 2014, p. 1.
  41. ↑ Felix Laurenz: Sharia police are now running through Düsseldorf as “Pro Halal” . derwesten.de, September 11, 2014.
  42. ↑ Follow-up for Salafists: Now the “Sharia Police” have to go to court . In: Focus Online , September 1, 2015, accessed December 25, 2015.
  43. ↑ Appearance of the Sharia police not punishable. In: Badische Zeitung . December 9, 2015, accessed December 9, 2015 .
  44. ^ Wuppertal: Higher Regional Court allows criminal proceedings against "Sharia police" . Spiegel Online, May 3, 2016. Retrieved September 28, 2016
  45. ↑ spiegel.de, January 11, 2018: BGH overturns acquittals in the "Sharia police" process
  46. ↑ a b Salafist Sven Lau in custody . Tagesschau.de, December 15, 2015.
  47. ↑ Arrest of the nationwide known Islamic preacher Sven L. on suspicion of supporting the foreign terrorist organization. Press release No. 52/2015. Attorney General at the Federal Court of Justice , December 15, 2015, accessed on December 15, 2015 .
  48. ↑ Sven Lau remains in custody because of the risk of fleeing . In: Die Welt , March 30, 2016, accessed April 5, 2016.
  49. ^ Indictment against the nationwide Islamic preacher Sven L. for supporting the foreign terrorist organization "Jaish al-muhajirin wa-l-ansar" (JAMWA) . The Federal Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice , press release No. 20/2016, April 12, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
  50. ↑ Did Sven Lau support an Islamist terror group? In: Focus Online , April 12, 2016, accessed April 13, 2016.
  51. ^ Federal Prosecutor's Office brings charges against Sven Lau . In: Die Welt , April 12, 2016, accessed on April 13, 2016.
  52. ↑ Salafist Lau is on trial from September , wdr.de from June 29, 2016.
  53. ↑ tagesschau.de: Salafist Lau in court: proceedings with a symbolic character. In: tagesschau.de. Retrieved September 6, 2016 .
  54. ↑ Five and a half years imprisonment for Sven Lau . n-tv.de, July 26, 2017, accessed on July 26, 2017.
  55. ↑ Sven Lau sentenced to 5 years and 6 months imprisonment for supporting the foreign terrorist organization “JAMWA”. Press release No. 26/2017. Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf , July 26, 2017, accessed on May 16, 2019 .
  56. ↑ Sven Lau's lawyer appeals . In: Spiegel Online , July 27, 2017, accessed on September 3, 2017.
  57. ^ Franziska Hein: Judgment against Salafist preacher final: Sven Lau could come out of prison next year. In: RP Online. May 8, 2018, accessed December 3, 2018 .
  58. ↑ Release from prison after serving a sentence of several years. Press release No. 14/2019. Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf, May 16, 2019, accessed on May 16, 2019 .
  59. ↑ Jörg Diehl: Islamists in Wuppertal: The head of the "Sharia police" . In: Spiegel Online , September 6, 2014. Accessed November 30, 2015.
  60. ↑ Gerhard Voogt: Former Islamist Sven Lau in an interview: “Nobody would take love preachers seriously”. In: Kölner Stadtanzeiger , December 4, 2019, accessed on December 6, 2019.
  61. ↑ Sven Lau admits mistakes: "Was blinded". In: Westfälische Nachrichten , December 5, 2019, accessed on December 6, 2019.
  62. ↑ Ex-Salafist leader Sven Lau admits mistakes and distances himself from radical Islamism. In: Deutschlandfunk .de , December 5, 2019, accessed on December 6, 2019.
  63. ↑ The specified section of the book by RBB journalist Ulrich Kraetzer deals primarily with Pierre Vogel ; his follower Sven Lau is treated several times.
personal data
SURNAME Lau, Sven
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Abu Adam; ابو آدم (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German convert, preacher and Islamist activist
DATE OF BIRTH October 14, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Mönchengladbach