Margarete Koppers was the first woman to take over the leadership of the Berlin Public Prosecutor's Office more than eight years ago. As the then vice president of the Berlin police, the long-time judge returned to the judiciary in 2018. After her 65th birthday, the chief prosecutor is leaving office at the end of November. In an interview with the German Press Agency, she makes demands on politicians and warns of the dangers posed by populists.
Organized crime
“Although we succeed in highlighting the criminal phenomena of organized crime in particular and directing the focus on them, we are not able to push them back overall,” said Koppers. Organized drug trafficking, firearms crime, human trafficking for labor exploitation or prostitution remained ongoing issues for the police and judiciary.
“But the phenomena continue to develop,” says Koppers. The police are now observing that networks are being created on the Darknet, for example. “Supplementary work is bought in and the protagonists don’t know each other, but everything is done in the dark in order to remain anonymous and outsmart the investigating authorities,” said the lawyer. “It’s a development that we’re always lagging behind to some extent.”
Updated, the police and public prosecutor's office tried with great force to counter the increased gun violence in the capital. “This is a topic that concerns us, even if it is ultimately not new. There were always phases in Berlin - I'm thinking of rocker crime, for example - in which firearms played a larger role," said Koppers.
The risk of bystanders being hit is much greater than in a direct physical confrontation. “The availability of weapons must be reduced.” This is a very important point that Police Chief Barbara Slowik Meisel rightly points out. «The sources of supply must be closed if possible. I hope we succeed - also through the currently increased measures against the groups of perpetrators."
Growing extremism
In addition to organized crime in a wide variety of areas, extremism remains a big issue from Koppers' point of view. “In these polarized times, extremism - regardless of which side - is likely to increase. And in this respect we all have to remain vigilant.” Her successor brings with her special expertise in this regard, said Koppers, referring to Claudia Gorf's previous work.
The anti-terrorism expert will take over as her successor on December 1st. The native of Lower Saxony has been a federal prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice for 22 years. She was also involved in the criminal investigation of the Islamist terrorist attack on the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz almost ten years ago.
At that time, among other things, deficits were identified in the exchange of information between the responsible authorities. As a result, structures were changed. “Unlike back then, there is now a close network between the state security centers of the federal states, the intelligence services and the Federal Prosecutor General,” said Koppers. “Many planned attacks in the city were prevented through good cooperation.”
The Islamist terrorist attack on the sidelines of Christopher Street Day (CSD) almost three months ago shocked them all the more. When assessing the danger of the CSD attacker, Koppers sees no errors on the part of her authority.
Terror suspect Abdul B. was observed by the authorities. “I don’t think we or the police underestimated his dangerousness based on the facts we knew at the time,” Koppers said. “The case perhaps also shows the limits of our ability to look into people’s heads.”
In the terrorist attack on July 25, the 21-year-old Islamist attacker drove a car into a group of people. He then attacked other people with a machete and fled. One woman was killed and 31 people were injured, some seriously. A day later, police shot the assassin.
Politics does not take practice into account
“It is extremely unfortunate that politicians pay so little attention to practice and listen,” said Koppers, referring to the limited resources of the judiciary. “Instead of dealing with the problems, there are unobjective comments on suggestions for changes.” A big problem for the public prosecutor's office is that it has to deal with a wide variety of areas of crime and there is no prioritization on the part of politicians. The federal legislature is always coming up with new criminal offenses “without cutting off old habits”.
At the state level, relief can be created when it comes to fare evasion, says Koppers. “For example, by encouraging transport companies to stop filing criminal charges against people who use buses and trains without a ticket and instead simply enforce the increased contract fee.” The lawyer has been involved in the discussion for years about the abolition of the criminal offense of “obscuring benefits”, as driving without a ticket is legally referred to.
Countering poverty crime
In addition to evading transportation, Koppers sees a number of other crimes that can be traced back to poverty. “The gap between rich and poor in the city and in the country as a whole is widening. And just as there is organized crime or serious economic crime in the city, there are also drug addicts, homeless people or alcohol addicts who attract attention through shoplifting, fare evasion or trespassing."
We have to deal with this criminality of people “who have fallen through the cracks”. “And it would be good for the state of Berlin to use other, more preventative instruments than exclusively repressive ones.” There are some efforts by various actors, but that is not enough, says Koppers.
Another problem is the isolation of these people. People with mental illnesses are increasingly coming into the attention of the police and public prosecutors because they are not being treated adequately and are ultimately attracting attention through crimes. “We worry that such people will fall into the hands of extremists who will use them as tools for their machinations. This is what IS has set an example for and this could also be reflected in other extremist organizations in the future.”
Independence of the judiciary
Koppers has been calling for the abolition of the right of federal and state justice ministers to issue instructions to the public prosecutor's office for years. After the AfD's recent successes, she sees more reason for this than ever before. “The dangers that threaten us from the authoritarian populists are far too great not to at least clearly regulate the right to issue instructions.”
She has repeatedly discussed the problem, and the German Association of Judges and the New Association of Judges have also repeatedly addressed it and developed concepts for it. “There is a real danger that authoritarian populists will come to political office and then exert politically motivated influence on criminal prosecution,” said Koppers.
“There is also a risk that vacant leadership positions in the law enforcement agencies or the police will be filled by authoritarian populists, so that they could act accordingly from within.” Precautions would also have to be taken in this regard.
