Icon: enlarge
Coat of arms of the Hessian police (symbolic image)
Photo: Silas Stein / picture alliance / dpa
Since 2015, there have been 77 proceedings against Hessian police officers on suspicion of right-wing extremist views.
These are disciplinary proceedings, civil service dismissal procedures and labor law measures, as the Interior Ministry has now announced.
18 officials are therefore no longer on duty.
The affair began in the summer of 2018 when the Frankfurt lawyer Seda Basay-Yildiz received a threatening fax.
The fax contained information that is not publicly available.
One trace led to five police officers and a colleague from the 1st Frankfurt police station.
Immediately before the first fax was sent, data about the lawyer had been requested.
The investigators found the "Itiotentreff" chat group on the police officer 's seized smartphone, in which at least 40 criminally relevant racist and right-wing extremist content was shared.
After the chat group became known, more and more suspected cases became known.
The Hessian police finally began an extensive investigation against themselves.
Investigations against colleagues
The investigation group AG 21 had examined suspected cases by 2015, according to the statement from the Ministry of the Interior.
Of the 77 proceedings, 42 have not yet been concluded.
The remaining 35 cases ended as follows:
In a total of 18 cases, those affected are no longer on duty.
The employment relationship was terminated or there was no appointment as a probationary civil servant (non-appointment).
A police officer died in a traffic accident.
In ten cases violations of civil service obligations were found.
A disciplinary measure has been issued.
In these cases, however, the suspicion of right-wing extremist attitudes has not been substantiated.
In five cases, the disciplinary proceedings were discontinued without consequences because there was no violation.
In two cases a violation of the civil service law was recognized, but a disciplinary measure was "not indicated".
The message also states that an "integrity officer" has been created for the Hessian police.
She should ensure that misconduct is punished consistently.
In addition, an independent commission of experts has been convened to examine measures already taken and recommend new changes.
Not only in Hesse, but also in other federal states, cases of suspected right-wing officials have repeatedly become public in recent months.
In North Rhine-Westphalia, after several chat groups were exposed, 31 police officers were temporarily suspended; in Berlin, the LKA is investigating a chat group of young police officers to which 26 people are said to have belonged.
According to a management report, there have been around 380 suspected right-wing extremism cases in the federal and state security authorities in the past three years.
Icon: The mirror
jpz / dpa
