Why is he named “Kaplan”? Is he from a branch of the Khazars that converted to Islam?

“Kaplan” is a normal (last)name in Turkish--it means “Tiger”

Why couldn’t they hold him in prison awaiting the extradition decision? Is it that he had not charges pending in Germany?

I think you say the right thing here: “Extremists must not be permitted to turn the rule of law into a weapon against those who, unlike themselves, prize it. But nor must the state discard the rule of law when it proves inconvenient.”

But, what should we actually do? Is it discarding the rule of law to go through the normal legislative process of review and notice that some of the procedural rules need to be changed because they are being abused by those who want to destroy us? Is it wrong to notice that the balance of some safeguards is much less safe than we thought? The rule of law is not about ’rights’ appearing then never to be reviewed or analyzed.

I guess the question is: “Is Islamist terrorism fundamentally different from regular criminal activity and if so should it be treated differently?”

Sebastian,

Why couldn’t they hold him in prison awaiting the extradition decision? Is it that he had not charges pending in Germany?

That’s pretty much it. He was convicted in the past of criminal violations in Germany, but had served his time.

At this point you’ll no doubt be asking yourself, Why, pray, did they not pack him onto the first plane for Istanbul directly he was released from German prison? The answer is that he had previously been granted asylum in Germany. (Germany used to take political asylum extremely seriously; something to do with large numbers of Germans who had needed to find it elsewhere 70 some-odd years ago.) Before it could throw him out, the government would need to revoke his right to asylum, and that can’t be done (yet) by the Innenminister’s unappealable fiat. (They still take asylum somewhat seriously.)

After much legal wrangling, he was stripped of asylum status; from that point, he was geduldet, i.e., he had no right to be present in Germany but his presence was tolerated pending the final settlement of the legal questions. He was, SFAIK, subject to certain restrictions, but these did not rise to the level of having to keep the police informed of his whereabouts at all times or being subject to 24/7 surveillance (and could not have done, without probable cause, hearings and that sort of thing).

I don’t need to reach your question about Islamic terrorism being a different threat to ’ordinary’ criminal activity, because it doesn’t matter for my present purposes where a threat comes from, merely that it be a threat. (The same discusson could be had about the RAF or about violent neo-nazi organisations, though as their members are generally German citizens sending them someplace else is, sadly, not an option.) But you ask:

But, what should we actually do? Is it discarding the rule of law to go through the normal legislative process of review and notice that some of the procedural rules need to be changed because they are being abused by those who want to destroy us? Is it wrong to notice that the balance of some safeguards is much less safe than we thought?

Of course not. Maybe there are times in which procedural protections must be curtailed or rights abridged. That’s absolutely unacceptable absent grave emergencies (and pretty unpleasant even in those cases). Grave emergencies can arise, though, and these things might sometimes need to be done. But it should not be left to an unchecked government to decide that; those whose rights the government seeks to abridge should be able to challenge the legality of the measures. And, however grave the emergency, those measures must not fundamentally violate the constitution that is the basis of any legitimate use of state power. If you take a look at the very first article of the German constitution (sorry I can’t find an English translation; hope you can manage Hun or Frog), you will see that that document treats the matter very seriously, and so too should the government.

So, in sum, I’ll repeat: I’m glad that Germany may soon be rid of this creature; but I’m glad the government couldn’t get rid of him merely by waving its wand.