State parliament remembers victims of the Hanau attack

Parliament - State parliament remembers victims of the Hanau attack

Members of the Hessian state parliament once again remembered the victims of the racist attack in Hanau on Tuesday. Those killed will not be forgotten, emphasized CDU MP Michael Ruhl at the beginning of the debate on the final report of the committee of inquiry into the racist attack. Ruhl expressed his sympathy to the relatives and his regret that the state had not succeeded in protecting the victims.

Ruhl said in Wiesbaden that the final report was supported by a broad majority of the committee - with the exception of minor special votes. On February 19, 2020, a German perpetrator shot nine young people in Hanau for racist motives. He then killed his mother and himself.

Due to the death of the perpetrator, it was not possible to deal with the horrific crime under criminal law, said Ruhl. The security authorities had not recognized the dangerousness of the perpetrator and had therefore not been able to prevent the crime. In retrospect, however, one of the things that can be said is that communication with the relatives could have been better. According to the final report, an emergency exit at one of the crime scenes was closed. The organization of the emergency call could also have been improved, said Ruhl.

After the first shots were fired in Hanau city center, a 22-year-old man chased the perpetrator in his car to stop him and called the emergency number 110 several times in vain. Shortly afterwards, he was shot dead by the assassin in his car.

The "Initiative 19 February", which brings together surviving relatives and those affected, criticized: "No one has taken political responsibility. There were no consequences." The committee of inquiry had the opportunity to conduct a serious investigation, but failed to do so. "Instead, we experienced almost two years of party-political theater, which has now come to a more than disappointing end with a meaningless report," the initiative stated.

The chairwoman of the SPD parliamentary group, Heike Hofmann, said that dissent remained on important points of the committee of inquiry. The SPD parliamentary group had therefore drawn up a special vote. Failures and responsibilities, such as the lack of availability of the emergency services, had to be named as such. The police operation had lacked sensitivity towards the relatives of the victims. As a result, some of them felt like they were being treated like perpetrators.

Jörg-Uwe Hahn from the FDP parliamentary group was generally satisfied: "We have succeeded in coming to terms with what happened on the night of the crime and identifying mistakes." The emergency call infrastructure of the police station responsible had already been inadequate years before the attack. "Although it is unclear whether a functioning emergency call could have saved lives on the night of the crime, this situation is intolerable," explained Hahn.

"In our view, different actions by the responsible authorities could have made it more difficult to carry out the crime or changed the course of events," said Green MP Vanessa Gronemann. "If the relatives of the victims had been dealt with appropriately, additional traumatization and further doubts about the functioning of state institutions could have been avoided." In addition, it would have been more difficult for the perpetrator to obtain weapons if he had not had a firearms license.

The final report, which was adopted by a majority, unfortunately falls short of the committee's investigative work, said Elisabeth Kula, Chairwoman of the Left Party. The report fails to mention that there were indications of the perpetrator's dangerousness in a complaint filed with the public prosecutor's office at the end of 2019. "There should have been a weapons possession check here," said Kula.

Initiative February 19

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1. The final report, which was supported by a majority in the committee, highlighted the closed emergency exit at one of the crime scenes as a point of improvement in the response to the Hanau attack.
2. Jörg-Uwe Hahn from the FDP parliamentary group praised the final report, stating that it identified mistakes made before the attack, including the inadequate emergency call infrastructure at the responsible police station.
3. According to the SPD parliamentary group, led by Heike Hofmann, the police operation lacked sensitivity towards the victims' relatives, leading to some of them feeling like they were being treated as perpetrators.
4. The "Initiative 19 February" criticized the final report, stating that it was a disappointment and failed to take political responsibility for the events that led to the deadly attack in Hanau.
5. On February 19, 2020, MP Michael Ruhl from the CDU in the Hessian state parliament reminded everyone that the final report was being discussed, as it was supported by a broad majority of the committee, with the exception of minor special votes.
6. The final report, adopted by a majority, did not mention the fact that there were indications of the perpetrator's dangerousness in a complaint filed with the public prosecutor's office at the end of 2019, according to Elisabeth Kula, Chairwoman of the Left Party.

Source: www.stern.de