A call from Germany's Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble for legal powers to intern terrorists before they struck set off a storm of criticism Sunday. Suggesting that Germany might have to introduce a US-style criminal offence of conspiracy to commit a crime, he said: "Another question is whether one can treat such dangerous people as combatants and intern them."
The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) official's remarks were to be published in the news magazine Der Spiegel on Monday. Schaeuble added on ZDF television Sunday: "You must take risks to defend liberty, but you can't just sit back and do nothing either." Social Democrats, who share power in Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition, rejected the call. Kurt Beck, the Social Democrat leader, told ZDF Sunday: "We mustn't kill liberty in an effort to defend it."
Sebastian Edathy, a senior Social Democrat, said: "One cannot defend the rule of law from terrorism by weakening principles of the rule of law." |