A sign pointing to the Naturalisation Office in Berlin-Charlottenburg. According to the law, German citizenship may be withdrawn only if it was obtained under false pretences, by threat or bribery or by deliberately providing incorrect or incomplete information on which the decision to grant citizenship was based/Photo: AfricanCourierMedia

Court approves withdrawal of German passport of naturalised Moroccan

A naturalised supporter of the terror organisation IS can have his German passport revoked if he already was involved in behaviour that is against the free, democratic order of Germany when he was naturalised. This was the decision of a Higher Administrative Court.

The court thus approved the decision of the district of Euskirchen to revoke the naturalisation of a convicted supporter of the terrorist group “IS”. There are indications that the man, born in Bad Münstereifel in 1991, already supported efforts against the free democratic basic order at the time of his naturalisation, as the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia announced in Münster on Thursday. It thus confirmed a decision of the Aachen Administrative Court. The decision is final. (REF.: 19 A 1381/22).

The district of Euskirchen had revoked the naturalisation of the man, son of Moroccan parents, which had been carried out in May 2012, because he had left for Syria in February 2013 and had participated in various terrorist organisations there. The Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court had sentenced him to five years and three months in prison in 2019.

In the first instance, the Administrative Court of Aachen had confirmed the withdrawal because he had already supported anti-constitutional activities before his naturalisation. For example, he had belonged to the Salafist group “DAWA EU”, had operated its website with links to unconstitutional associations and had participated in the distribution of Korans.

According to the law, German citizenship may be withdrawn only if it was obtained under false pretences, by threat or bribery or by deliberately providing incorrect or incomplete information on which the decision to grant citizenship was based. An applicant for naturalisation must “confirm their commitment to the free democratic constitutional system enshrined in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany”.

Felix Dappah

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