Berlin massacre terror suspect Anis Amri arrested three times this year

Pictured: the man wanted over the Berlin terror attack who has previously been arrested three times by German police
Alan Hall21 December 2016

Terror suspect Anis Amri has been under the surveilance of German intelligence practically since his arrival in the country last year - and was even arrested THREE TIMES this year.

But despite being an Isis supporter and known to have received weapons training, German authorities seem to have allowed him to slip through their clutches time after time.

He even tried to recruit an accomplice for a terror plot – and again the authorities knew about it – but still he remained at large.

He arrived in Germany in July 2015 and was given a hearing by immigration authorities in April this year. According to media reports, he was denied the right to asylum and due to be deported this year.

But under a peculiarity of the German asylum system he was granted a 'Duldung' or toleration papers allowing him to stay for unknown reasons. He was due to be deported before year's end.

According to BILD newspaper the German authorities were in touch with their Tunisian counterparts to get him a passport so he could be kicked out. But Tunis said it had no record of him being a citzen.

A manhunt was underway for the man named as Anis A

He was put on a danger list shortly after arriving: a move which meant authorities considered him prone to extreme violence. Yet just how much surveilance he was under remains unclear.

In July this year he got into a knife fight over drugs and was charged with GBH. But he went underground before getting to court.

Yet he surfaced again in August in Ludwigsburg when he was arrested for possessing a fake Italian document. Again, why he was allowed to slip through the fingers of the security services, given his known affiliation to hate preachers, is unclear.

Before his vanishing act he had contact to Salafist preachers who promoted Jihad among German young men who converted to Islam.

Hijack victim: Polish lorry driver Lukasz Urban

It was recorded by German officials that he had entered Italy in 2012 and Germany last year. He lived for a time in Emmerich am Rhein and was travelling from there on a bus to Berlin in July when he was arrested for an unknown offence.

Again, he went free.

According to German news reports he lived with a time with hate preacher Boban S. In Dortmund, under arrest for involvement with Islamic State.

An anti-terror investigaor told BILD newspaper;“To our knowledge he was ready in the early part of this year to find an accomplice for an attack and was interested in acquiring a weapon.“

A State Criminal Office informant in North Rhine-Westphalia reported this but again, Amri was not seized.

He is known to have attened hate sermons by Abu Walaa in Hildesheimn, a recruited for Isis who now sits in jail on remand after being arrested last month for radicalising young men for Isis.

Apparently Walaa wanted to send him to Syria. But he did not want to, preferring instead to formulate plans for an atttack in Germany.

Another investigator said; “Supposedly the evidence was not strong eough to arrest him.“

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in