Ban on Awni al Kalemji lifted

18/06/2009

Court grants Iraqi resistance supporter entrance into Germany

On June 10, 2009 a Berlin administrative court allowed an appeal against a ban issued by the Berlin state police against Mr Kalemji. From now on he can once again enter Germany.

The court’s decision is a defeat for the government of the Berlin province led by a coalition of Social Democracy and the Left party. The police action against a political tour of Mr Kalemji in spring 2006, which eventually led to his expulsion, was their responsibility. The judge dismissed the claim of the Berlin government according to which Mr Kalemji had been a “threat to the public order”.

The real reason for so blatantly violating the democratic rights was simply reason of state. Germany does not want to endanger its relationship to the US. The case of Mr Kalemji shows that it is not only the CDU of Merkel who is tailing Washington but also the so-called left including the Left party at least with their provincial apparatuses involved in public administration.

This defeat of the government is important also for other cases where their try to curb the democratic rights avoiding precedence.

Initiativ e.V., German section of the Anti-imperialist Camp
June 11, 2009