Suspected Hamas members before BGH investigating judge

Justice - Suspected Hamas members before BGH investigating judge

In Karlsruhe, the hearings of the suspected members of the Islamist group Hamas arrested on Thursday have begun. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe, the three suspects arrested in Berlin will first be heard by the investigating judge of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH). The man arrested in Rotterdam in the Netherlands will only be brought to Germany as part of extradition proceedings.

The highest German prosecution authority accuses the four men of having searched for weapons that were to be kept ready for possible attacks on Jewish institutions in Europe. The defendants are accused of membership of a foreign terrorist organization. They are said to have had "close ties to leaders" of the military wing of Hamas.

First indications of the men last summer

The Egyptian national Mohamed B. and the Lebanese-born Abdelhamid Al A. and Ibrahim El-R. were arrested in Berlin. In the case of the first two, the BGH judge will decide on Friday whether to execute the arrest warrant, and in the third case whether to issue and execute the arrest warrant. After the first suspect was brought before the court on Friday morning, the two other suspects were flown from Berlin to Karlsruhe by helicopter.

The Dutchman Nazih R., who was arrested on the basis of a European arrest warrant issued by the BGH investigating judge in Rotterdam, will be presented at an as yet unknown date.

According to information from security circles, the men's activities are not directly connected to the Hamas attack in Israel on October 7. Rather, the first reference to the four men is said to date back to last summer.

As far as the authorities know, there were no specific targets for the attack. In October, the three men, who lived in Berlin, had set off several times from Berlin in search of the weapons. They were supported by the man arrested in Rotterdam. According to dpa information, the security authorities already had the suspects on their radar before the tip-off about their search for weapons came from abroad.

Carrying out attacks outside Israel and the Palestinian territories would be a change of strategy by Hamas. This could possibly have its origins in the growing Iranian influence on Hamas' military arm.

Suspected Hezbollah members on trial in Hamburg

Two suspected members of the Lebanese Hezbollah arrested in Lower Saxony are also to stand trial in Hamburg. They are suspected of having been members of a foreign terrorist organization, the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe announced.

On December 4, charges were brought before the State Security Senate at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court. A court spokesman in Hamburg said that the Higher Regional Court still had to decide whether to admit the charges.

According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, the terrorist organization Hezbollah is banned from operating in Germany. The Shiite-Islamist organization is directed against the idea of international understanding. It denies Israel's right to exist and propagates the fight against the Jewish state by terrorist means.