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Radikal update: Public attorney blamable for German police raid



Hi, 

here are 2 updates on the radikal-case. 


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Berlin 01/09/97, Angela Marquart (24) vice chair of PDS 
(german socialist party) got accused by the German 
state court of 'aiding and abetting a crime' by providing
a link to the homepage of the german autonomus-leftist fanzine
Radikal and making its use possible to "former unknown persons".
Onto the pages at www.xs4all.nl/~tank one can find the relativly
unprecise and trivial description of how to sabotage railways. 
Last autumn many German providers were blocking their
connection to the Dutch server in an act of self-censorship, 
which led to a high number of mirror sites of the 'critical
pages' around the world.

more info (in german):
http://yi.com/home/MarquardtAngela/radihtm1.htm

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Press declaration

Amsterdam, 10 January 1997

Examining Magistrate says: Public attorney blamable for German police
raid in The Netherlands

Magistrate: "Raid was a case of political prosecution."

Internal correspondence between Examining Magistrate (EM), Mr. P
Hoekstra and Public Attorney, Mr. L Geuns shows that the EM does not
want to carry  the responsibility for Radikal-raid in The Netherlands.
Hoekstra didn't hear about the German call for assistance until the
16th of December, when he got the case turned over from the leaving
Examining Magistrate, Mr. van Maanen Winters.

On the 17th of December Hoekstra wrote a letter to Public Attorney
Geuns saying: "The remaining question now is if we deliver the seized
goods to Germany. Normally I'd ask permission for this at the council
chamber, no problem. Question for me in this case is if I want to be
responsible for asking this permission. I didn't decide about this
yet." Hoekstra wonders if it wouldn't have been wiser to discuss this
German call for assistance with the Minister of Justice before taking
any action .

Further on Hoekstra writes: "The problem of course is, aren't we
talking about prosecution for Germany concerning the political beliefs
of the accused? (art.5521Sv) and aren't we talking about a case which
would need the full approval of the Minister herself? (art.552m Sv)"
Hoekstra further on insists that the Public Attorney should after all
still contact the Minister of Justice and ask for her standpoint in
this case. If the Public Attorney wouldn't be prepared to do so
Hoekstra would inform the minister himself. As long as this hasn't
happened EM Hoekstra will not ask for permission to hand over the
seized goods to the German authorities. Here ends the letter from
Examining Magistrate Hoekstra to Public Attorney Geuns.

One of the more important questions asked by the Green Party in
parliament about this German raid on dutch territory, the question if
the Minister of Justice had been informed in advance about this
operation and if she had given her approval for it has hereby been
answered.

The minister was not informed while she should have been.=7F

Other questions of the Green Party asked in parliament were about the
authorisation of German authorities to investigate on Dutch territory.
Formally the Radikal-raid was executed by Dutch police but in reality
the German police were doing the job. According to a roommate
witnessing the raid, German authorities from LKA and BKA were
searching the house wearing plastic gloves. Dutch police present just
stood there and observed. According to international investigation
regulations this was an illegal act. The regulations prescribe that
foreign officers are allowed to be present as experts to explain what
to look for. According to the Schengen Treaty foreign officers have no
executive authorisation. To take an active part in an investigation is
fundamentally wrong.

Back ground
The raid At Miguel's in Vaals (NL) took place on the 11th of December
1996 Miguel appeared to be suspected of cooperating with the german
left-wing newspaper Radikal. This magazine is illegal in Germany but
totally legal in the Netherlands. A search- warrant that was present
at another raid that day in Aachen (Germany) at the house of Miguels
mother showed the raids took place for suspected support of a criminal
organisation, supporting and recruiting for a terrorist organisation
and other criminal facts. A computer and a lot of discs were seized at
the raid in Vaals (NL). Nothing was found that could be connected to
the magazine apart from some Radikal-stickers. By now it is clear that
there is no (international) arrest-warrant for Miguel. A spokesman of
the court in Karlsruhe (Germany) announced that the Germans were
primarily looking for evidence.

More information can be found at:
Solidariteitsgroep Politieke Gevangenen:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/radikal/11.12/
The court in Maastricht:
Examining Magistrate Mr.. P.Hoekstra: (+31) 43  3465184/3465185


Free All Political Prisoners!
MRTA Solidarity Page - http://burn.ucsd.edu/~ats/mrta.htm



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