German lawmakers have been warned about a “death list” circulating on the internet containing the names of MPs who voted in favor of a controversial Covid-19 lockdown law, police said.
A document titled “The death list of German politicians” has surfaced on social media. The German Criminal Police (BKA) confirmed the list contained the results of the Bundestag’s voting on the ‘Infection Protection Act’ passed on April 21. It also included the names of individual MPs who supported the bill, according to German media.
Police denied the publication of the list posed any “increased security risk,” saying it was created by an “individual.” Law enforcement still warned parliamentarians about the existence of the document, however.
“Such things have to be taken seriously,” Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said, while the criminal police said an investigation into the list continues. Meanwhile, German media reported other similar lists had appeared online.
Results from German parliamentary votes, including the one on the Infection Protection Act, are freely available to the public on the Bundestag’s website, showing each decision taken by every MP in all bills put to a vote.
The controversial lockdown law was supported by members of the government coalition made up of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Union bloc and the Social Democrats. All opposition parties either voted against it or abstained.
The Union said that it would hold a “security meeting” on the issue next week. A Social Democratic MP responsible for the faction’s security also called on her colleagues to report any incidents affecting them directly to the police.
The law granted the federal government sweeping powers when to impose harsh lockdown restrictions on states and even individual communities with relatively high infection rates. The list of measures included a night-time curfew between 22:00 and 05:00, among other severe restrictions limiting the work of shops and services.
The legislation, which came into force on April 23, has sparked a public uproar. A large rally was held in Berlin as the lawmakers were voting on it, ending in scuffles between police and protesters and some 150 arrests.
The passing of the law also led to a flurry of complaints being lodged with the German Constitutional Court as the legislation’s opponents argued it violated people’s fundamental rights.
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