German court: Informants' handler must stay secret

Opposition parties would not be allowed to question an intelligence officer over the 2016 Breitscheid Square terror attack, Germany's BVG constitutional court announced on Wednesday. The judges decided to protect the identity of the officer, who had been in charge of coordinating informants close to the attacker.

Eleven Christmas marketgoers were killed when Islamist Anis Amri drove a hijacked truck amokafter killing its driver. Italian police later shot Amri dead.

The unnamed supervisor was in contact with an informant inside Berlin's then-Fussilet mosque that Amri frequented and which was subsequently banned.

Four years later, questions remain on whether Amri, a Tunisian, acted alone or had accomplices, and who did the planning.

Court puts 'welfare of the State' first

Judges, with one dissenting vote, ruled Wednesday that the "welfare of the State" (Staatswohl) stemming from Germany's reliance on rare informants was more important than parliamentarian's right to know about the agency's workings. The BfV, Germany's domestic intelligence service, cultivates sources in impenetrable Islamic circle across the country.

The three opposition parties, the liberal Free Democrats, Greens and post-communist Left had hoping to overturn the decision made by Germany's interior ministry. According to the ministry, the supervisor was not allowed to testify, not even behind closed doors.

Judges agreed Wednesday, acknowledging "serious concern" that questioning the supervisor would erode confidentiality, expose informants, endanger current undercover operations, and shut down intelligence service access and recruitment.

'Traitor becomes an infidel'

There was a high propensity to violence in the "Islamist-terrorist milieu," said the judges, adding that the violence was "directed in particular against those who cooperate with the democratic state" in Germany.

"The traitor becomes an infidel, an enemy to be fought with all means," they said, referring to the BfV's informants.

Parliament's right to control spying

Greens parliamentarian Irene Mihalic, formerly a police officer, criticized the Wednesday ruling. She said parliament must press for a strengthening of its constitutional right to control Germany's intelligence services.

Left party inquiry delegate, Martina Renner, said Chancellor Angela Merkel's centrist coalition government still owed explanations to the Breitscheid attack victims and the public.

"How close was a confidant of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution actually to the later assassin, what information was the agency able to gather about him in this way or failed to do so?" she asked.

Special intelligence commissioner?

FDP inquiry spokesman Benjamin Strasser said parliament need better ways to oversee "the conduct of confidential informants."

One way, according to Strasser, would be to establish a parliamentary intelligence commissioner to monitor services randomly and report on misconduct.

Four years after the Breitschied Square attack that cast a pall over 2016 Christmas festivities, the parliament's inquiry committee is still working on the closing report that is to be filed to the Bundestag.

ipj/dj (dpa, AFP)