Post a Comment Print Share on Facebook

"The question of whether the killing spree could have been prevented must be asked again"

After the killing spree in a community center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Hamburg, the left-wing parliamentary group asked the Senate for clarification.

- 10 reads.

"The question of whether the killing spree could have been prevented must be asked again"

After the killing spree in a community center of Jehovah's Witnesses in Hamburg, the left-wing parliamentary group asked the Senate for clarification. Deniz Celik, domestic policy spokesman for the left-wing faction, said according to a statement on Sunday: "According to the latest findings, the question of whether the killing spree could have been prevented must be asked again."

The police said on Friday that, despite an anonymous indication of a possible mental illness of the alleged perpetrator Philipp F., there was no legal basis for the confiscation of his weapon or the arranging of a specialist psychological examination. After the media coverage of the "crude theses" that Philipp F. represented on his website and in a self-published book, the doubts about this representation were growing, according to the left.

The theses represented on the homepage and in the book painted "the picture of a confused, religious extremist," said Celik. Since this information was publicly available at the time the anonymous tip was made, a thorough examination by the weapons authority should have led to the conclusion that there were considerable concerns about Philipp F.'s personal suitability to own a weapon, said the domestic political spokesman. According to the legal provisions, a psychological report should have been requested.

Celik described it as "completely incomprehensible why the weapons authority either failed to carry out a thorough examination or, despite knowing about Philipp F.'s dangerous worldview and the reference to a mental illness, did not arrange for a psychological report". In the current case, "it must be spoken of an implementation deficit rather than the lack of a legal basis for action," he said. The Senate must "enlighten the interior committee completely" about these and other open questions, Celik demanded.

On Thursday evening (March 9), according to the Hamburg police, a man shot at members of the religious community in a prayer house of Jehovah's Witnesses in the Groß Borstel district. Eight people died, including the alleged perpetrator, who is said to have been a former member of this religious community.

At a press conference on Friday, Hamburg's police chief, Ralf Martin Meyer, stated that when checking the later perpetrator, according to an anonymous letter, only the improper check of a projectile could be determined, whereupon there was a verbal warning. There were no mental abnormalities; however, the weapons inspectors had not been trained in this regard either. However, the inspectors probably had no knowledge of the easily accessible writings of the perpetrator, at least Meyer did not mention it at the press conference.

At the scene of the crime on Deelböge Street, numerous residents of Hamburg have laid flowers. The Protestant bishop Kirsten Fehrs also interceded for the victims during the service in Lübeck Cathedral on Sunday morning. “We are deeply shocked by the events of last Thursday in Hamburg. Grief and pain, lamentation and horror - all of this moves us deeply," said the bishop in the district of Hamburg and Lübeck.

"We think with sympathy of all those who lost their loved ones on the night of the crime," said Fehrs. In addition to the victims, she also included their relatives and friends in her prayers, as well as those who were injured in body and soul as a result of the violent act. Fehrs spoke of a "life-destroying hatred" that broke ground on Thursday evening.

The bishop also included in her intercession those people who helped and comforted after the attack: the police and fire brigade, crisis intervention teams and emergency chaplains. “They shared sorrows and bore burdens. Help them endure what they have experienced, give them the comfort they need in these times," said Fehrs.

Avatar
Your Name
Post a Comment
Characters Left:
Your comment has been forwarded to the administrator for approval.×
Warning! Will constitute a criminal offense, illegal, threatening, offensive, insulting and swearing, derogatory, defamatory, vulgar, pornographic, indecent, personality rights, damaging or similar nature in the nature of all kinds of financial content, legal, criminal and administrative responsibility for the content of the sender member / members are belong.