Court Overturns Law on Hijacked Airliners
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Germany’s highest court overturned a law that authorized the government to shoot down hijacked civilian airliners, ruling that it was unconstitutional to sacrifice passengers to protect potential terrorist targets.
Critics challenged the law, arguing that the constitution forbids the military to endanger the lives of German citizens or exercise domestic police powers.
“We must now examine the question of how we can establish the legal principles so that the citizens are protected from terrorist acts in the air,” Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said.
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