Berlin places electronic ankle monitors on four Islamist threats after deadly Pride attack

The attack and its aftermath

A 21-year-old German citizen of Lebanese descent drove a vehicle into the crowd at Berlin's Christopher Street Day (CSD) parade on the evening of 25 July, then exited the car and attacked bystanders with a bladed weapon. One woman was killed and 31 people were injured, some seriously. The suspect, identified by Der Tagesspiegel as Abdul Ballout, was known to security services as an IS sympathiser and had been classified as a "Gefährder" (dangerous person). Despite a prior 22-month prison sentence handed down by a youth court, he remained at large. He initially escaped the scene and was shot dead during a police operation one day later.

The revelation that the attacker was a known threat yet free has ignited debate over gaps between risk assessment, monitoring, and actual prevention, as well as scrutiny of the youth justice system's handling of the case.

Immediate security response

On Monday, Berlin's Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) announced that four individuals classified as Islamist threats are now wearing electronic ankle monitors following a police request approved by a court on Friday. The measure lasts 30 days and allows continuous location tracking. Three of those monitored are men and one is a woman, according to Tagesspiegel. One of the four was also placed in preventive detention (Unterbindungsgewahrsam), a temporary deprivation of liberty aimed at averting an imminent crime. Tagesspiegel reported that this detention was ordered with the Hamburg CSD in mind, which took place over the weekend, and the individual was released by Monday night.

I very much welcome that the competent court has joined our assessments.

Spranger stressed that the reforms to Berlin's General Security and Public Order Act and the amended Constitutional Protection Act passed in recent months have created new tools for security authorities. "It is right and absolutely necessary that they be applied consistently," she said.

Judicial shift

Berlin Police President Barbara Slowik Meisel had indicated to the interior committee a week earlier that the prospects for such police applications had been low and the legal hurdles high. According to Tagesspiegel, the CSD attack prompted a change in judicial posture. The ankle monitor and preventive detention measures are possible under the revised Berlin police law passed by the black-red coalition, subject to judicial review, but had rarely been used until now.

Political proposals beyond Berlin

In North Rhine-Westphalia, FDP state party leader and parliamentary group head Henning Höne published a position paper calling for structural changes to the justice and naturalisation systems. He proposed that terror cases always be heard by specialised state security chambers at regional courts, even when the suspects are juveniles or adolescents, and demanded higher minimum sentences without the possibility of probation.

The justice system must not treat dangerous persons like petty criminals.

Höne also wants applicants for residence permits and German citizenship to disclose all their social media accounts and usernames, allowing authorities to review publicly accessible content. Posts supporting terrorist organisations such as Hamas or IS should carry residence-law consequences even when not criminally punishable, his paper argues. Citizenship obtained through deception, including cheating on language tests, should be revocable retroactively. "Whoever lies, flies," Höne told RP Online.

Political pressure in Berlin

Berlin's CDU lead candidate for the upcoming state election, Stefan Evers, has argued that the threshold for imposing an ankle monitor remains extremely high even after the police law reform. "A pressing threat situation must exist for a judge to decide on it," he told Berliner Morgenpost. "I believe classification as a dangerous person should be sufficient." Spranger had already advocated for closer electronic monitoring of threats at the interior committee meeting on Wednesday.