Germany now wants to tighten criminal law after New Year’s Eve riots WEF warns: These crises could happen to us in years to come

According to information from “Bild am Sonntag”, the German Ministry of the Interior (BMI) wrote to the coalition factions in the German Bundestag on Friday asking them to consider tightening criminal law. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser therefore proposes that the deliberate ambush of police and rescue workers should be punished in the future with a prison sentence of at least one year instead of six months previously.

According to the newspaper report, the letter goes on to say that the development of increasingly brutal violence against police and rescue workers underlines the need for a clear legal-political signal. This should clearly emphasize the particular reprehensibility of these acts and punish them appropriately.

A look at other countries such as France shows that this development, “if not resolutely countered, could worsen further into further brutalization,” the newspaper said in the letter.

After the riots on New Year’s Eve, Faeser initially disagreed with the demands for tightening of sentences. On the other hand, she argued for a more consistent use of existing punishment options when sentencing perpetrators.

On New Year’s Eve, emergency and rescue services in Berlin and other cities were attacked en masse. In some cases, police had to be deployed to protect firefighters from attacks while putting out fires. (sda/afp)