After attacks on the police and fire brigade on New Year’s Eve, the district mayor of Berlin-Neukölln spoke out in favor of quick penalties. You have already seen a lot, wrote Martin Hikel (SPD) in a guest article for “BZ” and “Image” (Sunday). “Every year on New Year’s Eve there’s wild firecrackers. As early as 20 years ago, groups of men stood on Hermannstrasse and shot each other with blank pistols.”
Berlin firefighters are used to a lot during their operations. “That’s bad enough,” Hikel wrote. “But what we experienced a week ago is disgusting. Fire brigade and rescue workers were deliberately lured into ambushes and attacked there by hooded people. Police officers were shot at with blank guns at close range.”
Similar to Berlin’s Prime Minister Franziska Giffey and Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (also both SPD), Hikel also spoke out in favor of punishing perpetrators quickly. “The first thing these violent criminals need to realize is that their actions have consequences. That means the penalty must follow quickly – and it must be felt. A few community hours won’t help,” Hikel wrote.
“Attacks by rescue workers are punishable by up to 5 years in prison. Anyone who uses pyrotechnics as a dangerous tool for dangerous bodily harm must reckon with up to 10 years’ imprisonment,” wrote Hikel. It is important to him to max out the sentence for adults and to use the shortened criminal procedure for juvenile offenders if possible. Better social infrastructure is also needed, especially in hotspot areas. (dpa)
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