Germany Deports Muslim Cleric As Debate Continues

A Berlin court ruling this week shows Germany’s determination to prevent any incitement to terror among its large Muslim population.

The city’s highest administrative court decided that a 59-year-old imam can be deported for threatening public security.

The cleric, a citizen of Turkey, will be sent back to his homeland. The expulsion comes amid debate in European countries about the framing of new laws and rules which deter terrorism while preserving the rights of the individual.

Brussels-based analyst Sergio Carrera, of the Centre for European Policy Studies, says this is a difficult balance to achieve, and cautions against excessive reaction.

"We cannot live in a state of fear, in which you justify any security measure or any preventive measure whatsoever, in order to curb a potential threat which might not even be real," he says.