With tougher penalties and a stronger emphasis on security interests in parole decisions, the German government wants to draw consequences from the Islamist terror attack at the Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade in Berlin. A ten-point plan, which the federal cabinet was set to discuss on Wednesday, according to government circles, includes among other measures a minimum prison sentence of one year for particularly dangerous injuries with knives and other dangerous tools when this endangers life or threatens serious health damage. Islamist attacks in recent years have frequently been carried out with knives or vehicles.
When deciding on a discretionary release for probation, for a sentence of at least six months, going forward the decision should explicitly take into account not only the defense of the legal order but also the security interests of the general public. This is what Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) agreed upon. In juvenile justice cases, it should be clarified that when the court applies this system to a growing youth offender, an explicit justification for doing so must be provided.
CSD attacker was IS supporter
The Islamist-motivated attacker Abdul B. drove into a crowd at the edge of the CSD in Tiergarten on July 25. He killed a woman and injured at least 31 people, some severely. The 21-year-old was initially able to flee and was shot dead a day later by police officers in a Berlin allotment garden in Spandau. Abdul B. had been known to authorities as a radical Islamist.
Why was he at large?
In May 2026, the Tiergarten District Court sentenced him to one year and ten months in a juvenile detention facility. The reason for the conviction was the planning of a severe act endangering state security, related to his travel to Lebanon to join the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria. The case also involved violations of the Vereinsgesetz (association law) connected to IS propaganda. The court imposed a so-called pre-release probation. The decision on whether the juvenile sentence would be served or suspended on probation was put on hold for an initial six months. During this period, he was to participate, among other measures, in a deradicalization program.
State police should be able to secure traffic data
The ten-point plan also provides that not only the Federal Police and the Federal Criminal Police Office but also the investigative authorities of the states can temporarily compel telecommunications providers to preserve so-called traffic data. This concerns information about who communicated with whom and when. The preservation order, which requires corresponding authority in the respective state police law, should only be permitted if there are indications of a crime or in an existing danger situation. (dpa/mize)
