Following the attack on the Berlin Christopher Street Day (CSD), the Senioren-Union (Senior Union) has demanded tougher penalties for young offenders. Hubert Hüppe, head of the union, stated on Monday, “The Juvenile Justice Act originates from a time when Islamist terrorism and ideologically motivated violence among young adults did not reach today’s scale.”
Hüppe asserts that the current events force lawmakers to review whether existing legal provisions are adequate for today’s security threats. He added: “If even individuals with proven terrorist radicalization and prior convictions cannot be permanently monitored or held in custody according to their level of danger, the legal foundations must be examined.”
The union insists that in cases of terrorism, murder, and other particularly severe violent crimes, it must be regularly assessed whether adult criminal law should be applied. Individuals identified as a risk must be subject to closer surveillance after their sentencing, and their freedom of movement should be more tightly restricted “within the framework of the rule of law.” While deradicalization programs can certainly be utilized, they must not be considered a replacement for incarceration or other effective protective measures. Furthermore, the Senioren-Union is calling for legal avenues to institutionalize perpetrators who are under the age of 14.
Beyond criminal justice, the union also expressed concern regarding the “too permissive nature of recognizing German citizenship” and the issue of dual nationality. According to Hüppe, if people try to join foreign terrorist organizations such as ISIS, their German citizenship should be removable.
