German Law Professor Threatened Over Circumcision Court Case

Islam versus Europe 2 July 2012

Holm Putzke, the German legal professor whose work formed the basis of the Cologne court's decision to ban circumcision as unlawful violence against the person, has been receiving threats since the judgement was rendered.

In an interview with a Passau newspaper, he said he had received insults "going beyond good taste" and threats "some of which were far into the criminally actionable range". nn

What kind of threats it is that he has received by telephone, email or internet in the last few days, Putzke did not want to say out of fear of copycats. "I would be lying if I said it had made no impact on me," the professor concedes, "but I am not going to let myself be affected by it. It's about the arguments." But those sending the threats do not seem receptive to those.

However, a clear survey conducted on behalf of the magazine found that a majority of Germans (56 percent) support the ruling, with just 35 percent opposing it. German child protection organisations are among those supporting the court's decision.

Meanwhile, junior partners in Merkel's ruling coalition government the FDP are pushing for a law to clarify that circumcision remains legal in Germany, FDP integration expert Serkan Tören told the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung newspaper on Saturday.



"If Germany bans circumcision on religious grounds the nation shouldn't bother with any further integration policies," said Tören, who himself is a Muslim. "A ban on circumcision would be the clearest signal to the Muslims in our country that they aren't part of Germany, that they aren't even welcome."