Deutschland uber Alles?

From Cyber-Rights@CPSR, Press declaration, 4 December 1996

Folks,

The following was posted to a cyber-rights discussion list, but I thought it would be of interest here, as well. It concerns a police raid on a leftist publication, located in the Netherlands, by Dutch AND German authorities. The publication, which is legal in the Netherlands, is illegal in Germany.

Audrie

(Introduction from moderator: not long ago, I published some material from the French Ministry of Telecommunications and pointed out that they seemed to be trying to set up a framework in which the censorship desired by the government of one country would be enforced by others. Here is an actual event illustrating the principle--Dutch police helping German police to stop an activity that is not illegal in the Netherlands. Actually, as discussed at the end of this message, this raid seemed to concern the paper version rather than the online version of this particular journal.--Andy)

PRESS-DECLARATION 14–12–96

After the German authorities tried to force their censorship on people's thoughts and writings worldwide on the Internet, Germany now tries to prosecute a person who lives in the Netherlands for the making of the left-wing newspaper Radikal.

In the morning of the 11th of December there was a houseraid in the village of Vaals (The Netherlands). In the raid ten local police-officers, a high officer from the Maastricht-court, two LKA (Landes Kriminal Ambt) German officers and two BKA (Bundes Kriminal Ambt) German officers took place.

The 16 German and Dutch officers forced themselves into the house with the help of a lock specialist. The only person at home during the raid only noticed it after some time when the room next to her was already being searched. The german and dutch police refuged to explain the reason for this raid. German autorities refered to the dutch ones for explanations and the other way around. It was only after insisting that they explained the search warrant came from the german authorities in Karlsruhe. During the two hour raid two personal computers, floppy-discs, foto's, a pamflet and some Radikal stickers were seized.

During this whole operation it was not clear against who or what this action was aimed and why this house was searched. It only became clear after the raid when another person came home from his work and phoned his mother in Aachen (Germany). At his mothers house there was also a house raid going on, nothing was taken there.

At this house-raid six LKA officers took part and in a paper they declaired to have reasons for this raid because of evidence found in the raid in Vaals. During the raid at the suspect's house evidence was found (...) that show the suspect (...) is using the house of his mother as well. This evidence consisted of his mother's car papers.

The declaration paper alsow showed the purpose of the raid: The search for Radikal publications, subscribers lists and financial information. The suspect is being charged with the making and distributing of the left wing newspaper Radikal. A newspaper that is forbidden only in Germany...

The supposed involvement with a political magazine, forbidden in Germany, apparently is enough for the Dutch authorities to work for the German juridical apparatus. This means that the German idea of law and order concerning magazines leads to the joint persecution of a Spanish citizen living in the Netherlands. Although the magazine is entirely legal in the Netherlands.

The dimension of the German-Dutch cooperation within the framework of the new European Security Policy is shown here in a very clear way. It shows that an attempt is made to completely redefine the persecution, across all borders, of politically unwanted people.

Solidaritygroup Political Prisoners
P/o box 3762
1001 AN Amsterdam
The Nertherlands

<tank@xs4all.nl>

(Note from moderator: I got the following update in response to a request I sent.—Andy)

You can find more information on the case on:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/radikal and
http://www.xs4all.nl/~felipe/germany.html

The blockade stopped two months ago. The raid now has to do with the paper version of the radikal as far as we now not the digital version (which is the same as the digi-version).

regards,
henk (for SPG)