Berlin: Five years after the attack on the Christmas market, many questions remain unanswered
Did the Tunisian Anis Amri have helpers and backers? How could the authorities fail like this? The attack, which left 13 people dead, continues to preoccupy survivors and politics to this day.
On an inconspicuous staircase in the loneliest corner of the Christmas markets There are flowers on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz. The steps in front of the tower ruins of the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, which was badly damaged in World War II, are engraved with 13 names. A few grave lights are still flickering, but most of them died in the cold wind. A young woman in a down coat takes one in her hand and holds a small lighter to the wick. It takes a while for it to burn. While roasted almonds and Christmas tree decorations from the Ore Mountains are offered in booths decorated with hundreds of colorful lightbulbs just a few meters away, she pauses for a few minutes with her head bowed in silent memory. She later says that she lit the candle for the mother of a friend – one of the 13 fatalities in the last worst Islamist terrorist act on German soil.
Five years after the attack on Breitscheidplatz, many questions remain unanswered
This Sunday marks the fifth anniversary of the devastating attack in which the Tunisian Anis Amri drove a hijacked truck into the Christmas market in the heart of the capital. A gold poured crack that goes through the pavement is a reminder of the terrible act that still raises many questions today. How could the terrorist attack come about? Could it have been prevented? And has enough really been done to clear it up? Benjamin Strasser does not let go of the search for answers. The FDP MP from Ravensburg has just been appointed Parliamentary State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, which is now led by his party friend Marco Buschmann. The new office in Berlin’s Mohrenstrasse is still almost empty, only the most important legal codes are on the shelf.
The 34-year-old has the facts about the attack in his head. As chairman of the FDP parliamentary group in the investigative committee of the Bundestag about the terror on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, which finished his work in the summer, he knows the files on the case like no other. In an interview with our editorial team, he says: “The committee of inquiry has shown that the Joint Counter-Terrorism Center, the GTAZ, is not working well enough. Contrary to what the name might sound like, it is not a powerful authority with clear hierarchies and decision-making structures. Above all, it is a large desk here in Berlin where the security authorities exchange ideas, die on a specific case, work – without there being a legal basis for this cooperation. “
In the Amri case, due to its high mobility, many authorities from all over Germany were involved: State Criminal Police Office, Secret services and the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. There was a great deal of knowledge about the dangerousness of the young Islamist. Yes, according to Strasser: “Information was shared too late or not at all. Agreements made were not kept. Too often it was said that there were many responsible, but none of them were responsible. ”That is why the GTAZ now urgently needs to be put on a legal basis. “We have agreed that as a traffic light coalition and will implement it quickly. Kün must be clear about responsibilities in the counter-terrorism and a violation of the agreements made also have legal consequences, “says the State Secretary.
Authorities become aware of Anis Amri early on
The security authorities had become aware of Amri more than a year before the crime, in autumn 2015. That was shortly after he entered Germany in July. As a young man, Amri committed a criminal offense in his native Tunisia, including stealing a truck. Before the police He fled to Italy in a boat in 2011. There he set fire to a refugee home and was imprisoned for four years. But because Tunisia did not provide any replacement papers, he could not be deported to his home country afterwards. So Amri managed to get over the Switzerland to come to Germany. For Benjamin Strasser, an unbelievable series of government failures begins at the border. There he crossed out his correct surname Amri on the form and instead entered “Amir”. The result: information in the Schengen information system about his criminal past could no longer be assigned to him. “Back then there weren’t enough fingerprint scanners,” says Strasser.
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In Germany, a total of 14 alias identities could be used to obtain social benefits. But the authorities would have to be known as early as February 2016, according to Strasser. Because Amri had established contacts in North Rhine-Westphalia with the circle around the Islamist hate preacher Abu Walaa from Hildesheim. He was classified by the security forces as a “threat” who is believed to be capable of attacks. At the same time, he keeps cropping up through crimes such as theft or drug trafficking. “Why he did not have to go to prison or was deported, why the individual proceedings were not brought together, nobody in the investigative committee could conclusively explain to us,” says Benjamin Strasser.
Another incident is still a mystery: When Amri even wanted to leave the country voluntarily, he was stopped by German police officers in Friedrichshafen shortly before the border with Switzerland and taken from the bus. Strasser says: “It was only afterwards that it was claimed that he was an IS fighter Syria want to leave. From today’s perspective, however, it actually looks as if he wanted to return to Tunisia. ”Had he been allowed to go back then, he would probably never have been able to re-enter and would not have been able to commit this attack. In the cooperation, so the reports of the committee of inquiry show, a lot has gone catastrophically wrong between the various German security authorities. In North Rhine-Westphalia, where Amri stayed a lot, the investigators managed to place an undercover agent near him. It was hoped that the informer would provide information about Amri’s plans and possible backers.
When the Tunisian traveled to Berlin, the police from North Rhine-Westphalia asked their colleagues in the capital to monitor the suspect undercover, so as not to make the investigation too dangerous. Strasser reports: “What happened? He was taken from the bus in Berlin by the police and his cell phone was removed. Of course, he warned his contacts in North Rhine-Westphalia. The VP01 was withdrawn from Amri for security reasons. “VP01, that is the code name of the most important, covertly working source of the police in North Rhine-Westphalia. The extremism expert is annoyed about “officials who did not read their orders, did not keep agreements”, about “expertise that varies widely in the authorities”. However, this is not due to the failure of individuals, but rather due to the system. “The federal structure itself is good, but micro-authorities are hardly able to act. Terrorism is becoming more and more international, which is why we need fewer authorities that create more security, ”demands Strasser.
Backyard mosque in Berlin as a terror hub
In Berlin-Moabit, behind a shabby red wooden door on Perleberger Strasse, the Fussilet Mosque had developed into a center of the Salafist scene in the capital. Ismet D., who called himself an “Emir”, is said to have supported terrorist groups in Syria and radicalized young Muslims. In a basement room, Anis Amri was probably also lifting weights to steel himself for the “holy war against unbelievers”. Immediately opposite is a police station that had a surveillance camera aimed at the entrance of the Islamist meeting place. But their pictures were apparently hardly evaluated. Not far from the currently closed mosque is Berlin’s busy Westhafen. There, on that fateful December 19, 2016, Amri shot and killed the Polish driver of a truck loaded with 25 tons of structural steel.
At around 8 p.m., the 23-year-old drove the semitrailer in the happy crowd at the brightly lit Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz. Much speaks for Benjamin Strasser that “Anis Amri did not start this attack alone, but had supporters”. It is known that during the attack, Amri was supported and instructed practically “live” on his cell phone by an Islamist from Libya. New research by Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg Nonne shows that Amri apparently had a direct client. It is said to be about 45-year-old Ali Hazim Aziz, battle name Abu Bara’a al-Iraqi, a high, Iraqi-born functionary of the terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS). There were early indications of the possible man behind, but they “petered out” in the course of the investigation. And that’s not all, says Strasser: “We also have evidence of a source from the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania constitutional protection agency that Amri was helped out in the area of organized crime. This information was never passed on to the police. “
Did clan members help Anis Amri?
Members of an Arab clan could have supported Amri before the act and then helped him escape Berlin, it is said. Three days after the attack, Amri was caught by Italian police north of Milan and shot. But the official thesis of the “lone wolf” Amri, who does his terrible deed all by himself, is crumbling. Benjamin Strasser says: “I expect that. All security authorities – including the Attorney General – investigate and, above all, investigate all clues and traces of possible helpers, confidants, and supporters. If that has not happened yet, it is high time you did it. “
The victims’ relatives, as well as many of the at least 67 seriously injured people and numerous traumatized helpers, are calling for information. The attack occupies them every day anew. One of the names engraved on the memorial on the Christmas market, which is now protected by high steel bars, is still very fresh. A man who survived the attack with serious injuries and has since been in need of care, died just a few weeks ago.