Raids - Searches in Hessen after ban of Islamic associations
After the ban of a nationwide active Islamic association, police searched three objects in Frankfurt and Bad Homburg. According to Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck (CDU), this concerns the headquarters of the Islamic Cultural Center Frankfurt and the living quarters of two association chairpersons.
Over 80 enforcement personnel were deployed.
The Frankfurt association is one of five sub-organizations of the banned Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH). It is instruction-bound and financially and personnel dependent on the IZH, explained Poseck. According to the Interior Ministry, 83 enforcement personnel were involved in Hesse. In addition to the search and seizure measures, two bank accounts were affected.
The Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) banned the IZH because, according to her ministry's assessment, it propagated the establishment of an authoritarian-Islamic rule. It represented the direct representation of the Iranian "Revolutionary Leader" in aggressively militant terms in Germany, according to a statement.
Raids and seizures in connection with the ban reportedly took place not only in Hesse and Hamburg, but also in Bremen, Berlin, Lower Saxony, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, North Rhine-Westphalia, and Bavaria. According to the Federal Interior Ministry, 53 objects were affected, including mosques, association rooms, private residences, and bank accounts. The Hessian Criminal Police Office added that a corporate investigative proceeding preceded the ban, during which four objects in Hesse were searched in November of the previous year.
"A clear sign of the determined action of the rule of law," declared Poseck. "These organizations act in accordance with the Iranian state doctrine. They reject our liberal democratic basic order and our free and open society." This form of Islamism does not belong to Germany, confirmed the Minister. The banned organizations spread hateful and dangerous anti-Semitic propaganda.
Demands for a ban have grown louder recently
"Our value system and our historical responsibility obligate us to protect Jewish life," urged Poseck. "This is all the more important in the context of the growing antisemitism since the Hamas terror attack on Israel."
The Federal Government was also urged by the Bundestag to examine whether and how the Islamic Center Hamburg could be closed as a hub of the Iranian regime's operations in Germany. The Hamburg Senate also called for the closure of the Center.
The Federal Interior Ministry justifies the ban of the IZH, among other things, because its purpose and activities were directed against the constitutional order and contradicted the laws and international obligations of Germany.
- The raids involving the banned Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) also occurred in Bad Homburg, as stated by Hessian Interior Minister Roman Poseck.
- Nancy Faeser, the Federal Interior Minister from the SPD, declared that the IZH had been banned due to propagating the establishment of an authoritarian-Islamic rule in Germany.
- In addition to the searches and seizures in Frankfurt and Bad Homburg, raids were conducted in several other German states such as Bremen, Berlin, and North Rhine-Westphalia.
- The Islamic Cultural Center Frankfurt, one of the five sub-organizations of the IZH, was among the objects searched by the police, as revealed by Roman Poseck.
- The SPD-led Federal Interior Ministry accused the IZH of representing the Iranian "Revolutionary Leader" in aggressively militant terms in Germany, which led to the ban.
- Roman Poseck, a member of the CDU, claimed that the banned Islamic organizations were acting in accordance with the Iranian state doctrine and rejecting Germany's liberal democratic basic order.
- Apart from the search and seizure measures, bank accounts related to the IZH were also affected during the raids in various German cities, as reported by authorities.
- The Hessian Criminal Police Office mentioned that a corporate investigative proceeding originated from their department, leading to the search of four objects in Hesse before the ban was enforced.
