Police are investigating a death threat to Cem Özdemir, the former co-leader of Germany's Green party. A US neo-Nazi group was linked to the email, which featured the politician among a list of its assassination targets.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Kappeler
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German lawmaker Cem Özdemir's office said it had passed details to police of an email that threatened the politician with "execution."
An offshoot of the US-based neo-Nazi group Atomwaffen Division (AWD) appeared to be behind the message, which featured Özdemir — one of Germany's highest-profile politicians with Turkish origins — at the top of an assassination hit list.
Details of the death threat were reported by Germany's Funke Mediengruppe newspaper group, which published a part of the email threat.
"At the moment, we are planning how and when we will execute you; At the next public rally? Or will we get you in front of your home?" the papers quoted from the message to Özdemir.
Özdemir, who co-chaired Germany's Green party for almost a decade until January last year, subsequently passed the message to the police. According to the Funke report, the wording had led him to take it more seriously than other threats.
Long a recipient of police protection, Özdemir is no stranger to intimidation. A staunch critic of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he has received numerous death threats from Turkish nationalists.
Threat level unchanged
The 53-year-old politician said he feared more for others than himself. "What about all the local politicians and the volunteers who are being attacked and have no personal protection?" he told the newspaper group.
Germany's Federal Criminal Police said that, despite the emergence of a German-based offshoot of the AWD group, its assessment of the hazards posed by far-right groups remained unchanged – albeit at a high level for the nation.
Members of the AWD in the United States have been linked to several murders and planned terror attacks. The group, organized in cells, operates largely online and has repeatedly called for attacks on minorities.
While the group formed in the southern US, it has since expanded across the country and into the UK, Canada, Germany and the Baltic states.
Prominent Muslim politicians in Europe
A leading member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats has caused a stir by saying a Muslim could be a future chancellor. DW shows some Muslims who are already at the forefront of European politics.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
The Muslim baroness
Sayeeda Warsi (in the forefront) was the first female Muslim to attend the British Cabinet, and was co-chair of the Conservative Party from 2010-12. In May 2018, Warsi called on Prime Minister Theresa May to publicly admit that the Conservative Party had a problem with Islamophobia. At her first meeting in Downing Street, she caused a small sensation by turning up in a traditional Indian outfit.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/O. Scarff
Serving France and Europe
France has the largest number of Muslims in the Western world, and Islam is the second-largest religion in the country by numbers. But the proportion of Muslim politicians remains relatively small. Rachida Dati is one Muslim who has reached the highest echelons of French politics, serving as justice minister from 2007-2009. She is currently a Member of the European Parliament.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/P. Huguen
A recent convert
Dutch politician Joram van Klaveren was long a hard-line critic of Islam, campaigning against the religion as a lawmaker for the Party for Freedom (PVV). But he suddenly announced that he had converted to the faith while writing an anti-Islam book. His former political leader Geert Wilders, himself a vehement Islam critic, said the conversion was like a vegetarian taking a job in a slaughterhouse.
Image: AFP/Getty Images/ANP/B. Czerwinski
A highly popular mayor in the Netherlands ...
Ahmed Aboutaleb became mayor of the Dutch city of Rotterdam in 2009. He is the first immigrant mayor in the Netherlands. He has been outspoken in his criticism of Muslims who come to the West but oppose the freedom of speech espoused there. In 2015, he was voted the most popular Dutch politician in a poll for news agency ANP.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Maat
... and in Britain
Sadiq Khan has been the mayor of London since 2016, having been a Labour MP from 2005 to 2016. Ahead of the Brexit referendum, he was a prominent campaigner for Britain to remain in Europe and has also supported equal marriage rights for same-sex couples. Khan won the Politician of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards in 2016. He is a practicing Muslim who regularly attends mosque.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Yui Mok
A 'secular Muslim' in Germany
German politician Cem Özdemir has been one of the most prominent faces of the Green party for years, serving as its co-chair between 2008 and 2018. Among other things, he opposes the accession of Turkey, his parents' homeland, to the EU while it is under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He describes himself as a "secular Muslim" and has campaigned for the legalization of cannabis.
