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Suspicion of racism and sexism at the Federal Criminal Police Office (symbol image)
Photo: Fredrik von Erichsen / DPA
She was supposed to be the first woman to be deployed in a special unit of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA): the personal protection unit for »foreign and special missions«, or ASE for short.
But apparently there was a way of dealing with the elite unit that was not only rude, but has now also preoccupied the public prosecutor.
It's about racist chats, Hitler salutes, threats and violent videos.
On Thursday, BKA boss Holger Münch and President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Thomas Haldenwang provided parliamentarians with new details about an affair that has electrified politics since it became known on Tuesday. After all, the BKA unit, as part of the so-called security group, is responsible for protecting parliamentarians and members of the government. It is particularly consulted when traveling abroad to crisis areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan or Mali.
The incidents were only known through the warning from the BKA officer, who wanted to switch to the 30-strong foreign bodyguard unit - and apparently encountered a toxic climate there.
In August 2020, she is said to have turned to the equal opportunities officer of her authority and reported about sexist and racist slogans in the elite group.
In the fall, the case landed with BKA President Münch - and he filed a complaint with the Berlin public prosecutor on November 17th.
"I'll stab you"
Processes that took place a few years ago are also rolled out.
For example, one of the BKA men is said to have threatened a colleague with the words "I'll stick you off" at a celebration of the tenth anniversary of the foreign personal protection unit in 2018.
Another is said to have shown the Hitler salute.
The events should not have penetrated to BKA boss Münch at that time.
During the investigation, the investigators discovered a chat group in which several BKA bodyguards exchanged ideas.
Apparently one of the men there posted decapitation videos, probably to illustrate how brutal it is in some regions of the world.
Some officials are said to have called their countries of assignment "bastards" and called their residents "bimbos".
In addition, internal investigators came across more than sloppy documentation of the ammunition that the special unit fired in large numbers during training.
Disciplinary proceedings are ongoing against a total of ten officials, and the public prosecutor is investigating three.
The responsible BKA department head was replaced.
In the meantime, the head of the authorities Münch reported to the deputies of the interior committee, because of the incidents even thought about breaking up the unit "foreign and special operations" was considered.
But they have moved away from that - apparently the elite troops are too important for the protection of government members and MPs abroad.
Politicians are said to have never made complaints about their work.
The clarification is still in its infancy.
The prosecutors and the Office for the Protection of the Constitution are intensively investigating the question of whether the men had contacts with right-wing extremist circles.
The investigators have so far denied closer involvement.
However, according to the President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Haldenwang, several of the targeted bodyguards are said to have had contact with a shooting instructor from the Special Forces Command of the Bundeswehr who is suspected of right-wing extremism.
The connection to the KSK soldier could be an important detail. According to SPIEGEL information, the elite fighter has been used for months because of his closeness to his comrade Philipp Sch. determined in which in the early summer of 2020 an arms dump with ammunition and explosives was discovered. During the evaluation of chats with partly right-wing extremist content, the investigators also came across the KSK shooting instructor, he was targeted by the MAD military intelligence service. Also to the meanwhile convicted Sch. at least one of the now suspected BKA officers had contact, at least his private cell phone number was found in the KSK man's address book.
The BKA bodyguard is said to have applied for a job at the controversial German security company Asgaard, albeit unsuccessfully. She is active in Iraq, among other places, and is also the focus of the authorities. A video from 2017, which SPIEGEL reported on in autumn, gives an impression of the private security force. A Reich war flag hung on the walls of a lounge for employees in Baghdad, and the Wehrmacht slogan "Do not complain, fight" was emblazoned in Gothic script in the hallway.