[JURIST] German Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries [official profile, in German] on Tuesday proposed [press release, in German] adding two new criminal offenses to Germany's anti-terrorism law in the wake of the September 4 arrest [IHT report] of three suspected Islamic militants who are accused of planning a series of car bombings. The first proposed offense, "preparing an act of violence," would criminalize actions in furtherance of a plan to commit a terrorist attack, such as stockpiling weapons or attending a terrorist training camp, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. The second proposed offense, providing "instructions for an act of violence, would criminalize, for example, posting bomb-making instructions on the Internet, and would carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison.

Under section 7 of the German Penal Code, § 129a StGB [text, in German], "membership in a terrorist organization" is a crime. In 2007, the German government enacted an anti-terrorism law [Heise Online report] to allow federal intelligence agencies to collect data from airlines, banks, postal firms, and telecommunications and teleservice companies. AP has more.