Time for a quick German lesson. In the context of terrorism, the German media are going on and on about "Gefährder", people who are a potential threat to public safety.
There is no legal definition of the term. The closest verbiage that describes what it means is in the law on the German Federal Criminal Police (the BKA). Section 20 authorizes the BKA to collect information on people if there are "facts that justify the assumption" the person might commit an act of domestic terrorism.
"Known to law enforcement", persons who fit definition can not be arrested, detained, or put to trial because there is no hard evidence.
Because of this vagueness, Germany's constitutional court declared the section 20 definition unconstitutional.
With the Berlin truck assault suspect classified as a "potential threat" and national elections coming later in 2017, German government ministers and the ever squabbling Bavarian conservative CSU are outdoing each other in calling for new anti-terror measures.
One of their favorites is the use of ankle bracelets for persons deemed a potential threat to public security, i.e. the people on the BKA's list of potential threats.
The ever handy "sources and methods" excuse for rejecting freedom off information requests ensures that getting on this list seems to be about as transparent as getting on the no-fly list.
As to numbers: out of the about 550 persons on the list, "many" are not currently in Germany, and some 80 are currently incarcerated.
The allure of ankle bracelets for the remaining 200 or so may well prove irresistible to the German government.
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