NOS News•today, 04:08
Politicians have been attacked again in Germany, less than a week after a politician from the German SPD was severely assaulted in Dresden. It concerns an SPD senator and former mayor in Berlin, and a Green Party politician in Dresden.
Former Berlin mayor Franziska Giffey was walking around a library in the Rudow district yesterday afternoon when she was suddenly attacked by a man. He attacked her from behind with a bag filled with hard contents, according to the police and the Public Prosecution Service. The man hit her on the head and neck. She was treated in hospital for minor injuries.
The suspect then fled, but the police have not said whether he has since been arrested. No information is also shared about the man’s motive.
Pushed, threatened and spat on
About three hours later there was a new attack in Dresden. A 47-year-old Green Party politician was attacked while pasting election posters. The politician’s name has not been released.
Shortly after the attack, police identified a 24-year-old woman and a 34-year-old man as suspects. The man is said to have pushed, insulted and threatened the politician. He also allegedly tore up two election posters. The 24-year-old woman allegedly spat at the Greens member. The police say that before the incident, the two suspects were still standing with a group of people who gave the Hitler salute.
Yesterday, the state ministers of the Interior and their federal counterpart had a special meeting focused on the recent attacks on politicians. They distanced themselves from the violence in strong terms. They also spoke out in favor of better protection for politicians and want stricter sentences to be handed out.
Attacks on politicians have been increasing for years
Last Friday, SPD politician Matthias Ecke was beaten up by four young men in Dresden. At the time he was busy putting up election posters for the European elections. According to the police, at least one of the perpetrators comes from a right-wing radical group.
Since the murder of CDU politician Walter Lübcke by a neo-Nazi in 2019, the German government has been keeping statistics on threats against politicians. Last year, 2,790 attacks were reported. The Greens were the target in almost half of the cases, followed by the AfD (478 reports) and SPD (420 reports). The numbers have been increasing in recent years.
