It is time to shut Nazi Deutschland 2.0 down before it is too late
Cross-posted from the ELSC website
Berlin, September 19, 2025 – A criminal complaint against German Government officials and arms trade executives was filed today by a collective of lawyers in Berlin with the support of the European Legal Support Center (ELSC), Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy (PIPD) and Law for Palestine. The Complaint was announced at a press conference today.
The charges were filed at the Office of the Federal Prosecutor in Karlsruhe (‘Generalbundesanwaltschaft’) against eleven high ranking officials of the former and current German government and CEOs of arms manufacturers, namely former Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, former Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Annalena Baerbock, former Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck, current Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, current Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Johann Wadephul and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy Katherina Reiche, Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius, as well as Dr. Jörg Stratmann, CEO of Rolls-Royce Solutions GmbH, Michael Humbek, CEO of Dynamit Nobel Defence GmbH, and Dr. Alexander Sagel and Susanne Wiegand, current and former CEOs of RENK Group AG.
The Federal Prosecutor must respect the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and initiate investigations on potential crimes if sufficient grounds for suspicion are apparent. In over 100 pages long criminal complaint the lawyers provide extensive evidence for the predicate crimes under the Code of Crimes against International Law (CCAIL) namely the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed by Israel. Furthermore, the complaint provides extensive evidence for aiding and abetting acts of genocide by German officials through the approval of arms deliveries.
The weapon deliveries were approved with full awareness that the weapons were enabling crimes against the Palestinian people. They are in no position to claim they “did not know.” CEOs of companies that supply weapons are not exempt from their responsibility under international criminal law by virtue of a government export licence. The fact that the exports were approved does not alter their classification as a criminal act of aiding and abetting genocide.
Germany is one of the biggest supporters to Israel’s annihilation campaign in Gaza. German arms exports to Israel increased tenfold since 2023 and amounted to about half a billion euros (485.103.796 €) in total. In August 2025, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced that his government has stopped issuing new export licences for weapons that could be used in Gaza “until further notice”. However, existing licences are still being fulfilled, and new licences continue to be approved for arms allegedly not intended for use in Gaza, but effectively still contributing to the killing of civilians in Palestine and the wider region. The Chancellor did not specify how Germany would be able to control where and how those weapons could be used.
The criminal complaint specifies several weapon systems which were used by the Israeli army in Gaza including combat drones (Heron TP), warships (Sa´ar 6-class corvette) and various kinds of ammunition (incl. 120 mm tank ammunition) and mechanical parts. Germany has also delivered an abundance of the handheld anti-tank weapon “Matador”. It has since become a TikTok trend among Israeli solidiers to film themselves firing those weapons at residential buildings to destroy Palestinian homes for fun.
Nadija Samour, ELSC Senior Legal Officer said: “Officials in the German Government have openly and repeatedly boasted about their unconditional and unlimited support for Israel. Given the undeniable, genocidal consequences of this support,
–we seek to hold them accountable.”
Lawyer Benjamin Düsberg, from the Lawyer’s collective said: “The German Federal Public Prosecutor must open an investigation to uphold the rule of law and the integrity of his office. Otherwise, Germany is effectively admitting that its federal prosecution system employs double standards and undermines the purpose of the office. Since filing our first case in 2024, we have compiled overwhelming evidence that cannot be ignored or dismissed.”
Plaintiff Dr. Qassem Massri, Palestinian German pediatrician, originally from Gaza said: “In the process of this horrendous genocide, that Germany supported with weapons and rhetoric, I lost many family members childhood friends and colleagues… their voices have been stolen by German weapons. Today we are submitting this complaint, demanding the German government to fulfill its historical responsibility because Never Again must be Never Again for everyone.”
The ELSC in cooperation with partner organisations has consistently sought legal action to stop the delivery of arms from Germany to Israel and will continue to do so. Right after the International Court of Justince (ICJ) determined in January 2024 that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and ordered states to prevent it, a similiar criminal complaint was submitted to the Federal Prosecutor, who refused to open an investigation against the accused German officials who were still in office at the time. Despite mounting evidence submitted by the lawyers, he reasoned his decision by denying violations of international criminal law by Israel and denying German arms being used by Israel to perpetuate these crimes (“lack of causality”).
In June 2024 the Administrative Court Berlin rejected an urgent appeal to enforce an immediate ban on weapons deliveries to Israel adopting the Federal Government claims that it has not approved any more weapons since February 2024. German newspaper Die Zeit, however, has exposed that the government continued to authorise exports while trying to cover it up by sending them in “smaller portions”. Neither the public, nor the parliament has been informed about this. The ELSC has since intervened through urgent appeals to halt deliveries on the German ship MV Kathrin and an drone part shipments via Frankfurt airport, both were also rejected.
Today’s complaint comes days after UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Palestine found that Israel has committed four acts of genocide, defined under the Genocide Convention, against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which joins mounting reports and evidence based declaration by most respected human rights organisations and a resolution passed by the International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) which states that Israel’s conduct meets the legal definition as laid out in the UN convention on genocide.
The German Federal Prosecutor can no longer shield its ruling elite from accountability and the rule of law. German officials can’t hide behind distorted legal reasoning while denying the mounting evidence for genocide committed with German arms. The time for accountability is now.
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