Early this morning the “Salafist scene” in Berlin was disrupted by police raids on 25 of its premises.
Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this brief news video, and to Vlad Tepes and RAIR Foundation for the subtitling:
The accompanying article, also translated by Gary Fouse, is from Tagesschau:
Radical-Islamist milieu
Raids in Berlin and Brandenburg
February 25, 2021
Police in Berlin and Brandenburg in the early morning searched several targets — it concerns a radical Islamist association that is banned as of today. Hundreds of police have been deployed.
by Michael Götschenberg
Since the early morning hours, police in Berlin and Brandenburg have been searching more than 25 targets. According to information from ARD-Capital City Studio, the raids are directed against the radical-Islamist association Jama’atu Berlin, or Tauhid Berlin. As of today, it is banned and will be dissolved. About 20 people are connected with it, most of whom have been firmly rooted in the radical-Islamist milieu for years.
The association operates several social-media channels, in which they glorify the so-called “Islamic State”, advocate the killing of believers of other religions, and express strong anti-Semitism. In addition, it rejects the state order and advocates the establishment of an Islamic state of God.
Hundreds of agents deployed
The police deployed 850 agents, including special forces. The target of the searches is, above all, to secure evidentiary material for the ban of the association. There is no imminent danger — the possible attack plans of the group are not known.
Thus far, the members of the association met mostly in private quarters. Some members of the group used to frequent the notorious Fussilet Mosque, which was a magnet for the jihadist milieu of Berlin. The attacker of Breitscheidplatz, Anis Amri, also went in and out of there.
No arrests planned
The Fussilet Mosque was banned in February 2017. Members of the Jama’atu Berlin were also active in the framework of the so-called “Read!” campaign of the radical-Islamist association, “The True Religion”, in which Korans were distributed. This association was banned by the Federal Interior Ministry in 2016.
Arrests in conjunction with the searches today are not planned. However, investigative proceedings against individual members of the group, who in the past, have been extremely aggressive against police, are ongoing. In the morning, Interior Senator Andreas Geisel will give details in a press conference.
Video transcript:
| 00:01 | This morning, the State of Berlin has banned an Islamist organization. | |
| 00:05 | More than 800 police searched targets associated with groups with the names Jama’atu Berlin | |
| 00:10 | and Tauhid Berlin in the capital city and Brandenburg. | |
| 00:15 | Berlin’s Senator Geisel spoke of a very radical Salafist movement | |
| 00:20 | aligned against compliance with the constitutional order | |
| 00:23 | and against ideas of understanding between peoples. |
That “Read” campaign had a funny side to it, the german imperative being “Lies”. Go figure, Anglosaxons. And it was a Koran in german, when muslims always claim that arabic can not be translated correctly. I remember one tv report of those stands when a heavily bearded believer tried a smile to the reporter, but it was the smile of a traitor: he just mustered his mouth to smile, not the eyes. Telltale of a liar.