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CRIME

Can the law go easy on pickpocket pensioners?

Should criminal pensioners be given lighter sentences just because they are old? A German police association wants to introduce a senior version of juvenile law for the elderly, but critics say it would be ageist.

Can the law go easy on pickpocket pensioners?
Photo: DPA

A move to make sure older criminals can get off with lighter sentences has come up against criticism from politicians who believe it would be unfair, wrote the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung on Tuesday.

The initiative by the Federation of German Criminal Police Officers (BDK) wants to ensure judges take elderly criminals’ age and personal circumstances – such as growing age-related poverty – into account when handing out prison sentences or fines.

According to BDK figures, six percent of all criminals are currently over 60 and 70 percent of them are first-time offenders – many of them discovering the possibilities of online fraud.

André Schulz, head of the BDK, told the Hamburger Morgenpost back in February that pensioners are driven to crime because they cannot pay their rent or buy their food. And, said Schulz, Germany’s rapidly aging population will mean the proportion of criminals over the age of 60 will only rise in the coming years, wrote the paper.

But critics of the scheme – such as North Rhine-Westphalian Justice Minister Thomas Kutschaty – say giving pensioners breaks in the same way as juveniles is both superfluous and potentially ageist.

“The regional government does not see a need to introduce a separate criminal law for senior citizens,” wrote Kutschaty on Monday in a reply to a parliamentary inquiry by the regional opposition Conservative (CDU) fraction.

Under existing law, wrote the minister, judges can already take into account personal circumstances – including age – as well as the effect of the punishment.

Also, he said, the demographic shift has not yet seen rocketing numbers of pick-pocketing pensioners.

Between 2007 and 2011, the number of convicted criminals over the age of 60 in North Rhine-Westphalia – Germany’s most populous state – has only risen by 59 to 7,540, representing a rise of from four to 4.2 percent of all convicts, said Kutschaty.

Meanwhile, it was wrong to compare senior citizens to juveniles, he said. Young people could be let off lighter because they were not yet mature enough to see consequences of their actions – not something which could be said of pensioners.

The Local/jlb

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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