Sputnik: Can you tell us about the latest developments surrounding the Chemnitz incident?
Andreas Roedder: So, there are two problems overlapping: on the one hand, there is another of the crimes which have been committed by migrants and on the other hand, an increasing wave of nationalist, xenophobic and even violent rallies in Germany. What we are facing is indeed an increasing polarization within [the] German public.
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Sputnik: What caused the protests and the violence in the protests? Is somebody using this entire incident for certain political gains?
Andreas Roedder: Yes, indeed, this seems to be the case. What we witnessed on the first hand was this murder, which was allegedly committed by these Iraqi or Syrian migrants, of a person of German and possibly of Cuban ancestry. First of all, we have had this crime which has been committed and which has been one in ever increasing row of crimes which have been committed by migrants in Germany. Before we had the crimes [of] the murders in Freiburg, in Kandel, in Wiesbaden; we had the attack in Berlin. So, this is one problem. And on the other hand it is, as you are asking, there obviously is a political group which is making use of the increasing feeling of insecurity in the German population. And these are not only right-wing, but even national-socialists and totalitarian wings which seem to make use of these problems.
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Sputnik: How should these tragedies be treated? What needs to be done to avoid this kind of violence?
Andreas Roedder: I think that one of the biggest, really fundamental problems Germany is facing is that we have a loss of confidence in the rule of law in Germany on all sides. It is as you already said, with this case of somebody who has been observed by the police who, has committed several kinds of crimes or something like that. And this is not the only case; this is another case in ever increasing row of such cases. If you remember Anis Amri, who committed the attack in Berlin, was the same case of a militant violent migrant crossing through Europe and finally coming to Germany. At the same time, you might remember there was a German soldier who introduced himself to the German authorities as a Syrian without speaking one word in Arabic and he was recognized as a refugee.
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So, what we have on the one hand is an immense loss of confidence in the working and the credibility of the rule of law in Germany. And on the other hand, what is indeed starting to happen is this kind of vigilantism. We already realized this two or three weeks ago when German authorities returned some Sami A., who was said to be a bodyguard to Osama bin Laden and they returned him to Tunisia by tricking the court on the one hand. And this is what, in a certain way, is happening in Chemnitz now. So, we are having a loss of credibility of the rule of law on the one side and on the other. And what is necessary is to consequently enforce the rule of law on every side, against vigilantism as well as on the side of immigration.
The views and opinions expressed by the speaker do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.