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Attack at Breitscheidplatz (archive image)
Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / DPA
An investigative committee of the Bundestag questioned a former undercover agent in the vicinity of the Breitscheidplatz bomber Anis Amri behind closed doors.
According to participants, the informant, who became known under his cover name Murat Cem, confirmed that he had warned the authorities about the terrorist several times in the year before the attack.
He would have preferred he had made a mistake in his assessment, said Cem accordingly.
In order to protect his identity, the former undercover agent of the North Rhine-Westphalian police was connected by video, his face and voice were alienated.
The survey dragged on for almost six hours.
Because of the corona pandemic, the session had to be interrupted several times for ventilation.
"The witness was clear and well sorted and did not get involved in contradictions," said Irene Mihalic, chairwoman of the Greens in the committee, after the meeting.
"Today we got important insights into the use of informants," said the CSU deputy Volker Ullrich.
"It was important that the Bundestag heard these witnesses."
In March, DER SPIEGEL revealed that Cem, headed by the authorities as VP01, had urgently warned the police of Amri's dangerousness.
Nevertheless, the authorities lost sight of the later assassin at the crucial moment.
In May, the SPIEGEL book »Undercover« was published about Cem's life, who had spied on criminals and terrorists for the police for almost 20 years.
The members of the investigative committee in the Bundestag also held excerpts from it on Friday.
According to participants, Cem confirmed the presentation of the book.
Amri carried out an attack on the Berlin Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz in December 2016, killing a total of twelve people.
During the attack, he is said to have been instructed by a man behind the terrorist militia "Islamic State" via cell phone.
According to the MPs, Cem saw himself less as an undercover agent, but more like an auxiliary policeman.
He had given credible assurance that his covert engagement in the Islamist scene was not primarily about money, but about the security of the country.
"I would have died for your country," said Cem, who is a Turkish citizen.
"I wanted to do something good for Germany." After his shutdown as an informant, Cem complained, the state let him down.
"I advise anyone against becoming an undercover agent." Afterwards, the police witness protectors "treated him like dirt".
Benjamin Strasser, FDP chairman in the committee, calls for clearer regulations.
"We need a V-Person Law for the police," he said after the meeting.
"Dealing with them during and after their deployment in the extremist scene has so far been completely inadequately regulated." The Green politician Mihalic made a similar statement.
"The use of V-persons in the police has to be regulated from scratch," she said.
Cem's testimony before the committee of inquiry should previously be prevented several times.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Ministry of the Interior spoke out against the statement by Cems with reference to security concerns.
The police had also always prevented their top informant from appearing in front of courts or parliaments.
So far, it has always been said that this is too dangerous for Cem.
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