World Cup security worry: German judges ban downing of hijacked
jets
The Times (London)
February 16, 2006, Thursday
HEADLINE: Judges ban downing of hijacked jets
BYLINE: Roger Boyes
Questions are being raised over security at World Cup matches as
court ties the military's hands, reports Roger Boyes
German fighter jets have been banned from shooting down hijacked
passenger aircraft, even if it looks as if they are about to be
used in a terrorist attack against crowded buildings or football
stadiums.
The ruling yesterday, imposed by the Constitutional Court, weakens
the ability to guard the airspace over the 12 German football
stadiums that will be used to stage the World Cup, which will run
from June 9 to July 9.
Ministers emphasised that there would still be a no-fly zone over
the football matches -some of which will involve the national teams
of England, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States -and that two
Phantom jets will be standing by to intercept suspicious aircraft.
But there will be no legal way that the German Air Force can put
the lives of hijacked passengers at risk.
"The protection of the right to the dignity of human life is
strict, and an infringement is not permissible," Hans-Jurgen
Papier, the president of the Constitutional Court, said.
The court was ruling on a law introduced after January 2003, when a
31-year old student stole a small aircraft and threatened to smash
it into a Frankfurt skyscraper.
Fighter jets tried to make radio contact with the student, but
their hands were bound by the law.
In the event, the pilot landed at a Frankfurt airport after a
couple of hours and was arrested. But the incident stirred memories
of the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001, and
demonstrated to Germans the vulnerability of their cities. The law
that followed, which permitted the shooting down of aircraft, was
intended as a last resort, with the Chancellor and the Defence
Minister ultimately deciding whether a pilot should pull the
trigger.
Civil libertarians and Cockpit, the pilots' union, said that the
law set a dangerous precedent. Some politicians also saw it as a
further encroachment of the German military into civilian
life.
The Constitutional Court sided with the critics: the Government, it
said, had no right to kill some people to save others.
The ruling undermines Germany's security preparations for the World
Cup. It had been hoping to police German airspace in a credible way
and to deploy soldiers on the ground.
The Constitutional Court made clear yesterday that this, too, would
be highly controversial. "The deployment of the military for
purposes other than national defence are constrained by very strict
constitutional principles," Professor Papier said.
Leading conservatives called for a change in the constitution. "It
is only three months before the start of the World Cup and we
urgently have to bring some clarity into the situation," Edmund
Stoiber, the premier of the southern state of Bavaria, said.
