Hamburg 'caliphate' rally prompts calls for punishment

A top Bavarian politician on Wednesday demanded tougher consequences for people advocating for Germany to become a "caliphate," saying they should face prison terms and lose citizenship.

Alexander Dobrindt, who heads Bavaria's conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) in Germany's Bundestag, joined lawmakers from across the political divide in responding to a reported rally in Hamburg calling for strict Islamic law to replace German democracy.

What did Dobrindt say?

"Anyone who wants to introduce Sharia [strict Islamic law] in Germany and declare a caliphate is an enemy of our democracy," said Dobrindt, whose party sits in opposition to Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling center-left coalition in the German parliament.

"The state must confront them with consistency and rigor," he said.

Dobrindt demanded minimum prison sentences for "caliphate extremists," as well as social benefit cancellations, the loss of residence permits or dual citizenship, and a ban on all organizations that want to establish a caliphate in Germany.

"In Germany, the following applies: the rule of law, not theocracy," he said.

What did other politicians say?

Responding to concerns earlier, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser urged police to vigorously pursue any crimes committed during the rally.

"No terrorism propaganda for Hamas, no hate speech directed at Jews," Faeser, from Scholz's center-left Social Democrats, told Berlin's daily Tagesspiegel newspaper.

"If crimes like this occur, there has to be immediate and forceful intervention at demonstrations."

Scholz, himself a former Hamburg mayor, on Monday said such violations had to be prosecuted.

"All the Islamist activities that are taking place must be dealt with using the possibilities and options available to us under the rule of law," said Scholz.

German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, a Green party politician, said the demonstration had questioned the principles of the German state as a republic.

"This is a demonstration that is no longer based on the constitution," said Habeck, who is also Germany's vice-chancellor.

What happened at the rally?

Police said some 1,100 people joined the rally, called by individuals with links to the Islamist scene.

Those participating in the event, which took place in the city's St. Georg district, protested what they called Islamophobic policies and a media campaign against Muslims in Germany.

Speakers accused politicians of "cheap lies" and "cowardly reporting" by labeling all Muslims in Germany as Islamists against the background of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza. Some were also reported to have called for Germany to become a caliphate.

Participants held banners carrying messages that included "Germany — a dictatorship of values" and "The caliphate is the solution."

The rally, accompanied by a heavy police presence, passed off peacefully.

According to information from Hamburg's Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the people who registered the event are close to the group Muslim Interactive, which is classified as extremist. The BfV is Germany's domestic intelligence service.

Hamburg police chief Falk Schnabel said that individual banners would be examined for criminal offenses while adding that the right to assembly was essentially about whether it was peaceful.

rc/nm (dpa, KNA)

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