Protests over terror arrest of German academic

[mogster]

Kate Connolly in Berlin
Tuesday August 21, 2007
The Guardian

Academics from around the world have protested to Germany's federal prosecutor about the arrest and detention of a Berlin sociologist who is accused of associating with a terrorist group - apparently on the basis of his academic work.
Andrej Holm, from Berlin's Humboldt University, who specialises in urban gentrification, was arrested three weeks ago on suspicion of aiding a militant organisation suspected of carrying out more than 25 arson attacks in Berlin since 2001.

In protest letters the academics from across Europe, the US and Canada said Mr Holm's arrest was based on his academic writings, and the evidence used to connect him to terrorism was at best flimsy.

The federal prosecutor's office arrested Mr Holm on August 1 under paragraph 129a of the anti-terrorism law, citing the repeated use of words such as "gentrification" and "inequality" in his academic papers, terms similar to those used by the urban activist organisation "militante gruppe" (mg). According to the prosecution report the frequency of the overlap between words used by Mr Holm and the group was "striking, and not to be explained through a coincidence".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/germany/article/0,,2152984,00.html
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He was arrested because of the language used in his scientific work ...

[rodeodance]

1. Using 'terrorist" laws!! my gawd!

[NYC]

2. He writes about gentrification and inequality.

Perhaps the terrorists read about gentrification and inequality.

This is a bad sign.

[rodeodance]

3. Yes, it is-----

[mogster]

11. Some clarification of the term 'gentrification'

Gentrification:
Gentrification, or urban gentrification, is a phenomenon in which low-cost, physically deteriorated neighborhoods undergo physical renovation and an increase in property values, along with an influx of wealthier residents who may displace the prior residents.

Proponents of gentrification focus on the benefits of urban renewal, such as renewed investment in physically deteriorating locales, improved access to lending capital for low-income mortgage seekers as their property values increase, increased rates of lending to minority and first-time home purchasers to invest in the now-appreciating area and improved physical conditions for renters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentrification

[NYC]

12. ...influx of wealthier residents who may displace the prior residents.

People have been gentrified out of their neighborhoods in New York.

On the surface, it sounds like a good idea. In reality, it often serves as displacement.

[Lincolnian]

14. OMG

I am GENTRIFIED!!!!

In fact all who live in Orange County, Ca are gentrified.

[rodeodance]

4. "This action in a liberal democracy seems more to fall into Guantánamo mode than genuine counteresp

"Guantanamo mode"-----very interesting this post uses THIS language.


.......The fact that he and another academic had access to a library meant they were "intellectually in a position to compile the sophisticated texts of the 'militante gruppe'," the prosecutor's office said.

In one of the letters, signed by more than 100 academics, the federal prosecutor, Monika Harms, was urged to release Mr Holm from his single-cell in Berlin's Moabit prison. "We strongly object to the notion of intellectual complicity adopted by the federal prosecutor's office in its investigation ... such arguments allow any piece of academic writing to be potentially incriminating," the academics said.

Mr Holm, 36, made a name for himself with his research into the effect of urban renewal on residential areas of the German capital since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"The police may have solid knowledge they are withholding, but their public statements belong in the realm of farce," Richard Sennett, a sociologist at the London School of Economics, and Saskia Sassen, a sociologist at Columbia University, wrote on Guardian Unlimited's Comment is Free site. "This action in a liberal democracy seems more to fall into Guantánamo mode than genuine counterespionage."

[struggle4progress]

13. OMG! He "had access to a library"! I sure hope for his sake that he's illiterate!

[Kagemusha]

5. So much for western values, that's all I can say.

This makes every bit of them a joke. Every last bit.

[izzie]

6. Add this to the paper on what to do when Bush comes to

speak that was in the NYT this morning makes one want to do a little sobbing in the back room. Just scary stuff. The Right has moving from 'Red baiting' to 'I do not like you baiting' I guess.

[Mojorabbit]

7. Absolutely chilling......eom

[Zodiak]

8. As an academic, this is the canary call

Well...now it seems that they are going after academics directly. In Germany, no less.

Surely this charge cannot stand. If it does, prepare for a new dark age.

[formercia]

9. The Mind Police.

Soon, computers with sophisticated software will single you out based on movements and behavior.

[madrchsod]

10. a bit of a stretch even for the germans

germany has very strict laws when it comes to disseminating what could be described as hate speech ,"terrorist"groups, and cults.