[JURIST] EU Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini [official profile] rejected targeted assassinations of terror suspects in an interview with the Financial Times Deutschland [media website] Thursday, adding that he is personally against all forms of the death penalty. Frattini, responding to controversial comments made by German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble [BBC profile] during an interview [text, in German; JURIST report] published on Monday by Der Spiegel [media website], said "the fact that we fight terrorism cannot mean that we kill people." He added a proposal by Schaeuble to prevent suspected terrorists from using the internet was a "fantastic idea" although Frattini doubted whether it was realistically possible.

Schaeuble's comments were criticized by Social Democrat parliamentary leader Peter Struck as endorsing a "police state" evocative of Germany's fascist past. Schaeuble, who has been trying to increase police powers to combat terrorism, has previously voiced support for a constitutional amendment that would grant the German military the legal authority to shoot down hijacked aircraft [JURIST report]. Reuters has more.