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The equipment of a camera team after an attack in Berlin last May
Photo:
Christoph Soeder / picture alliance / dpa
A television journalist was attacked during a live broadcast in front of the Federal Chancellery on Monday evening. Two 39-year-olds and a 34-year-old man first tried several times to distract a security service, the Berlin police said on Tuesday. Subsequently, they would have harassed the 58-year-old presenter of the broadcaster "Welt TV" to "permanently disrupt" the live broadcast. One of the men came within a few centimeters of the moderator and tried to snatch the microphone from him. The background was initially unclear.
Parallel to the incident, the federal and state vaccination summit took place on Monday, and a demonstration under the motto "Protection of our basic rights" also took place at the same time, according to the police.
The police are investigating suspected coercion and violations of the Infection Protection Ordinance.
The federal government sharply criticized the attack.
Whoever attacks journalists in order to harm them, "is clearly outside of our constitutional state," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.
Press reporting in Germany should not be "made more difficult or impossible," but should be able to be carried out without fear.
Last week, the organization "Reporters Without Borders" announced that Germany had dropped out of the group of countries in the global "ranking of press freedom" for the first time in which freedom of the press is well protected.
sak / dpa