In North Rhine-Westphalia, further allegations have become known against a police officer who is already being targeted by investigators on suspicion of sending right-wing extremist chat messages.
A spokeswoman for the Duisburg public prosecutor's office told SPIEGEL that the 39-year-old was being investigated for bodily harm.
The "Kölner Stadtanzeiger" reported earlier.
The officer did his job, according to the spokeswoman at the guard in Mülheim.
She is at the center of the police scandal in North Rhine-Westphalia: 31 police officers are now suspended in the case, they are said to have sent and received photos of swastikas and Hitler in chats.
Almost all of them were or are part of the Mülheimer Wache.
The proceedings against the 39-year-old for assault in office had already been initiated at the beginning of 2019, but have since been discontinued, as the public prosecutor has now announced.
The officials and colleagues were called in Mülheim at the time because of a case of alleged domestic violence.
The police officer is said to have hit a 56-year-old German with a migration background in the face - even though the man was already handcuffed.
The alleged victim filed a complaint at the time.
According to the Duisburg public prosecutor's office, the proceedings against the official were discontinued due to the lack of sufficient suspicion.
Both the accused police officer and a colleague stated that the officer had hit the man when he approached them in a threatening manner.
Go to court
The public prosecutor's office instead opened a case against the 56-year-old for false suspicion because of the information provided by the two.
A reproach, because the man has always denied the investigators.
In the process before the district court at the end of July 2020, the 26-year-old civil servant involved repeated her presentation.
But then it came to a surprising turnaround: a previously unquestioned 23-year-old police officer was heard in court - and, according to the spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office, she stated that her colleague beat the man while he was tied up.
Then the 26-year-old officer changed her statement and admitted that there was at least one blow to the man who was tied up.
The 56-year-old was then acquitted of the charge of false suspicion.
The previously discontinued proceedings against the police officer for assault in office were then resumed.
The prosecutor's spokeswoman did not say whether the police officer could have struck for racist reasons.
His motive is the subject of the investigation.
The two officers are being investigated in office on suspicion of preventing punishment.
According to the current state of knowledge, however, they played no role in the chat group complex.
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