When the lese majeste on social media are more important than 821 killers on the run. An article by Boris Reitschuster.
The
list is endless: 145,744 arrest warrants. People who are on the run in
Germany - including 821 murderers. But instead of making every effort to
ensure that these criminals are caught, the state boasts of having
"solved" another problem: controlling lese majeste (crimes against the Crown) on social media and those who dared to criticize corona measures.
It
is a telling picture of the state of a country whose priorities have
apparently shifted in a disturbing direction. The journalist Henning
Rosenbusch, who has also written for my site, sums it up perfectly on
Instagram: "We now have the lese majeste people on social media
and the 1,600 corona measures-delegitimizing enemies of the state firmly
under control. Priorities. So important."
Security gaps instead of enemies of the state
A look at the latest Bild statistics
shows the full extent of the failure: 821 killers are walking around
freely, and another 1,473 people are wanted on arrest warrants for
serious crimes against life, including attempted murder and
manslaughter. 1,856 sex offenders, including rapists, and thousands of
thieves, thugs and kickers enjoy the freedom to walk around Germany
unhindered. A situation that is absurd. And above all: dangerous. But
anyone waiting for a vigorous reaction from the government is waiting in
vain.
So while the police are running on the back burner when it
comes to tracking down real criminals, they are mobilizing thousands of
officers for the raid against an allegedly impending "Reich Citizens'
Revolution". The so-called "Rollator Putsch" surrounding Prince Reuss, a
would-be coup that was almost more funny than scary, consumed more
resources than the fight against the really dangerous criminals. At
least that's the impression you might get! With over 3,000 officers! And
the Compact Magazine raid,
where a magazine that the government doesn't like was targeted, also
showed the state's determination to fight threatening media.
Misalignment of priorities
It
is a grotesque misalignment of priorities. You might think that in a
country that insists on security, hunting down criminals should be at
the top of the list. But not at all! What matters is that the state
punishes those who do not want to bow to the narrative. Anyone who has
expressed criticism of Covid measures in recent years has been
threatened with surveillance and repression. I was investigated for half
an eternity, I was even put on the wanted list - and promptly stopped
by the police. But 821 murderers on the loose? No reason to rush when
you can monitor Facebook comments and follow journalists instead.
Focus on lèse majesté
This
shift in priorities is not only worrying, it is a danger for our
society. Because it shows that this state has lost control of what is
really important, even under the CDU government, but even more so under
the traffic light coalition. Instead, it is preoccupied with lèse majesté
on social media, an anachronistic relic from times when kings felt
insulted by disobedient subjects. But today? We live in a state that is
at least formally still democratic, in which foreign states are
constantly criticized for supposed violations of democracy. But our
institutions are being abused to intimidate, monitor and suppress
critical voices, while murderers and sex offenders walk around freely.
It is alarming that in these Bild
statistics the list of outstanding arrest warrants in the states is
sometimes so long that the authorities themselves do not know exactly
how many criminals they are actually looking for. Brandenburg and
Bremen? No idea how many criminals are at large. A small administrative
slip-up that hardly anyone seems to care about. The main thing is that
the "delegitimizers" are in their sights.
A question of symbolic politics
It
is almost as if the focus has shifted entirely to hunting down
“symbolic enemies.” One could almost get the impression that critical
minds who disrupt the narrative are being persecuted more harshly than
those who are proven to pose a threat to people’s lives and limbs.
This
development is indicative of a country that is becoming increasingly
detached from reality. At a time when security has become one of the
most pressing issues for ordinary citizens, the state, the governments,
prefer to focus on the "security" of its narratives and its power.
Anyone who says the wrong thing is monitored and must expect state
intervention. In the worst case, a raid will wake them up - along with
their children. Anyone who steals or kills the right thing, on the other
hand, has a good chance of walking around free. The big question is:
who does this prioritization serve? Certainly not the protection of the
citizens.
The end of trust
Trust
in state institutions is dwindling and for many it is already
approaching zero. 145,744 outstanding arrest warrants is no small
number. They are proof of the massive failure of the authorities to
guarantee the safety of the population. But instead of tackling this
with all its might, the state is forced to conceal its own failure by
destroying critics. In keeping with Tucholsky's old motto: In Germany,
those who point out the dirt are considered much more dangerous than
those who create it.
The fight against "enemies of the state" may
be a priority for the government, but for citizens something else is
more important: security. And that is becoming an increasingly distant
dream in a country that allows 821 murderers to walk free.
Source: Reitschuster