Group of German Muslims Running ‘Sharia Police’ To Stand for Retrial 

Rabat – After a German court acquitted a group of German-Muslims for creating a team of “Sharia police,” a higher court announced on Tuesday a retrial for the group on charges of patrolling the streets and demanding people in clubs to stop selling alcohol and listening to music. 

The group, led by a German Salafi organization, caused widespread anger after the unofficial police force made rounds in the city of Wuppertal in western Germany. The “officers” also raised signs in English declaring a “Sharia Controlled Zone” as part of their call to end gambling.

A local court had ruled in December that it will not pursue charges against the organization for its violations, but a higher court overturned the decision, according to Huffington Post Arabic. Eight of the nine members of the group – all male and between the ages of 24 and 35 – will be prosecuted in the case, which does not yet have a scheduled hearing.

When the real German police arrested the group in September 2014, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “no one had the right to do the police’s work for them.

The court that cancelled the previous decision upheld arguments raised by the prosecution’s lawyers, who said the group – known to don orange vests that say “Sharia police” on the back – violated “laws against wearing uniforms with political messages.”

The Dusseldorf court said another law, intended to stop militant movements from operating in German streets, could also be applied to this case against the group. It said the “police” uniform signaled a “joint political opinion” for the group, which entails enforcing Sharia law in Germany.

The court said the group resembles the “extremist” religious police present in many Islamic countries, without specifying which states it referred to.