Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Janitor steals 25 tonnes of stationery

In a case that promises to be a bureaucratic nightmare for police, a kleptomanic caretaker in the southern German city of Stuttgart has admitted stealing around 25 tonnes of office supplies over several decades, and keeping them in his flat.

Published: 3 April 2012 08:54 CEST
Janitor steals 25 tonnes of stationery
Photo: DPA

As well as ordinary office supplies, the 69-year-old man collected cleaning materials, dozens of brooms and brushes, toilet paper, whole rolls of paper towels, aluminium boxes and ladders.

He filled his living room with his haul, and when that was full, stuffed his cellar, storerooms and a garden shed full of the stolen stationery and supllies. Initial estimates have valued the accumulated booty in the six figure region, but he apparently had no intention of selling it.

According to a report in the Bild newspaper, the janitor worked for the Stuttgart city authorities for several decades until he retired in 2007. The police were only alerted to his thefts by an anonymous tip.

Officers have now begun the arduous task of cataloguing the material and returning it to the city council. Much of it is said to be as good new, though it is thought that the statute of limitations may have come into effect for some of the thefts.

It remains unclear what drove the caretaker to the serial pilfering spree, but he is not expected to be arrested, as he is not expected to go on the run – and some of his crimes have come under the statute of limitations.

The Local/bk

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

PROTESTS

FACT CHECK: Are foreign language protests really forbidden in Germany?

After a group of Irish protestors were told by Berlin police to stop singing songs in Gaelic while they held a pro-Palestine event, The Local looks at whether foreign language protests are really outlawed in Germany's capital.

Published: 24 April 2024 14:48 CEST
FACT CHECK: Are foreign language protests really forbidden in Germany?

Around 40 Irish activists and Berlin residents were attending a ‘conversation circle’ in solidarity with Palestine on Friday last week – in which songs and conversations were had in Irish (Gaelic) language – when police arrived and told them to stop and disperse, according to the Irish Independent.

Police on the scene explained that only German, English and sometimes Arabic language could be used in protest. They cited concerns that banned speech, such as speeches or chants glorifying violence, could be used in foreign languages and noted that they didn’t have an Irish translator.

An Instagram post by a group called Irish Bloc Berlin, which describes itself as a “Berlin-based platform for solidarity with Palestine”, called the move unjust and unconstitutional.

On the platform they also posted select speeches made at the demonstration with English subtitles: “Myself and my friends from Ireland are here today to show our solidarity with Palestine and stand against genocide…” began a comment by a protestor identified as Aodhán. He added: “We also stand against the brutal and shameful repression of the Palestine Solidarity movement by the police.”

Ireland is known to be home to a relatively high number of people who express sympathy for Palestine, partly because many Irish people see similarities between the British colonisation of Ireland and Israel’s ongoing occupation of Palestine.

The Irish protest came a week after German authorities shut down the co-called “Palestine Congress”, just an hour after it began. The event was planned to be a three day event in support of Palestine held in front of the Bundestag.

An Irish woman named Caoimhe McAllister, who attended the protest, told the Irish Independent the action was intended “to highlight what we see as a really worrying human rights concern”. 

McAllister added that she had witnessed police cracking down on Arabic speakers during protests, including at least one arrest. Her group wanted to show how unfair it is to outlaw a particular language for use of protest: “We just had to highlight this by speaking in Irish”.

Are language bans legal in Germany?

Asked for clarification on whether foreign language protests were allowed in Germany, a Berlin police spokesperson told The Local that they “decide on restrictions for assemblies on a case-by-case basis”.

The Irish protest took place within a protest camp which has been stationed in the sculpture park west of Heinrich-von-Gagern-Straße since April 8th. This particular camp is subject to the restriction that speeches can only be given in German and English and, at certain times, in Arabic, according to the Berlin Police.

The police spokesperson added: “In addition to this restriction, the assembly leader was informed on the occasion of the rally on April 19th that no exclamations or chants in Hebrew or Gaelic may take place. This decision is based on the Berlin Freedom of Assembly Act.”

In this case, the Berlin Police say that their own risk forecast suggested that “the assembly could lead to speeches or chants glorifying violence with potentially criminal content”, and therefore police officers on the scene needed the ability to hear what was being said so that they could enforce restrictions imposed on banned speech, like speech that incites violence, for example.

“For some languages, this is only possible with an interpreter. As there was no interpreter available for Hebrew and Gaelic in this case, it was only possible to act in advance with appropriate restrictions,” the police said.

Police powers are devolved in Germany, meaning that law enforcement is constitutionally vested solely with the states, so the way foreign language protests are treated may be different in other parts of the country.

Following the reconstruction, after WWII, Germany has gained a largely positive reputation for its commitment to protect freedom of speech and the right to protest. 

A key exception to this is banned speech, which in Germany includes: speech that incites hatred against people based on their racial, national, religious or ethnic background and insults that assault people based on those same factors.

But following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7th, 2023, and the steady rise of pro-Palestine activism in response to Israel’s war of retaliation that has killed more than 30,000 civilians, activists and civil rights organisations alike are beginning to question if Germany’s speech restrictions are being applied fairly.

PODCAST: Germany’s cannabis law explained and Berlinale backlash

Civil rights in decline in Germany?

In a recent report by global civil society alliance CIVICUS, the state of civic space in Germany was downgraded. 

CIVICUS Monitor researchers documented German authorities breaking up pro-Palestinian protests in late 2023 with excessive force — deploying pepper spray and water cannons and arresting hundreds.

The CIVICUS notes that German authorities have also used disproportionate measures against the Last Generation climate movement, including raids on homes, seizing bank accounts and blocking websites in response to non-violent civil disobedience.

“Germany used to be one of the most free countries in Europe…” said Tara Petrović, CIVICUS Monitor’s Europe and Central Asia researcher.

“Germany’s downgrade should be a wake-up call for the country and continent to change course.”

The CIVICUS report notes Berlin and Frankfurt specifically, as places where authorities banned pro-Palestinian protests.

“The German authorities’ actions against activists exercising legitimate rights to association and peaceful assembly are not conducive to a democratic state,” said Petrović. 

SHOW COMMENTS