The anti-Semitism commissioner of the Federal Government, Felix Klein, wants to enable a harder punishment of anti-Semitic offenses. This would be an "important signal" to the Jewish community in Germany and at the same time "guidance" for judges and prosecutors.
Klein calls for section 46 of the Criminal Code to be amended to explicitly include antisemitic motivation in sentencing. Paragraph two of the paragraph states that the court weighs "the circumstances that speak for and against the perpetrator against each other." Among other things, "the motives and objectives of the perpetrator, especially racist, xenophobic or other inhumane" are considered. Klein wants to supplement this list with anti-Semitic motives and goals.
Some members of parliament had already signaled support for this amendment, Klein said. But there is also "a lot of resistance". He continues to hold talks on the subject.
"Newly strengthened" anti-Semitism
Klein has been in office for one and a half years. He said at the press conference he felt well supported by the federal government. The package of measures against right-wing extremism decided on two weeks ago by the Federal Cabinet, for example, is a step in the right direction. Among other things, the cabinet reacted to the attack on the synagogue in Halle with the package.
The act showed "we need to step up our efforts," Klein said. He called, among other things, "to take action against hatred on the Internet", if necessary by law. In addition, a decentralized reporting system for anti-Semitic incidents, such as insults, should be established, which at the same time mediate low-threshold aid offers.
For anti-Semitic incidents in schools, there should be a reporting obligation, as some states have already introduced, Klein said. In addition, the topic of anti-Semitism in legal education should get more space.
At the moment, Germany is dealing with a "renewed" anti-Semitism, Klein said. This requires "consistent action at all levels" - from politics as well as from civil society and the media.
