Police document an alarming rise in politically-inspired offences.
Last year witnessed an unprecedented rise in politically-driven crimes, with a total of 60,028 reported cases. This marks the highest tally since the tracking began back in 2001, as per the latest report on politically motivated crime in 2023. Although the increase in comparison to the previous year stands at under 2%, it's a noteworthy trend.
In particular, the number of violent incidents dropped almost 12%, totaling 3,561 instances. A significant chunk of these crimes (roughly a third) fall under the banner of propaganda offenses. This type of offense includes using symbols associated with unconstitutional organizations. It's important to note, however, that these statistics are merely preliminary - they represent crimes reported to the police as they become aware of them. There's a possibility of multiple counts in cases where offenses span multiple categories.
Holger Münch, President of the Federal Criminal Police Office, stated: "Politically motivated crime has almost doubled within the past decade and is still on the rise.
continues to rise." He also added that there's a growing demeanor of radicalization among certain segments of the population, who seek to undermine the validity of the state and its monopoly on force. He highlighted the urgency to address such tendencies, given the potential threats they pose to the democratic system and social stability.
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