Merseburg: Police officer is said to have applauded participants in the corona demo

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According to the Civil Service Status Act, police officers are obliged to be neutral.

Photo: Jens Wolf / picture alliance / ZB

"1,2,3 - We love the police" - that ended a demonstration by opponents of the Corona protective measures in Merseburg in Saxony-Anhalt, as reported by the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung".

While the demonstrators clapped for the officials, the head of the Saalekreis police station is said to have applauded them back.

According to the police, the demonstration was registered and increasingly shaped by the AfD, according to the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung".

Union calls for clarification

Actually, police officers are obliged to be neutral under the Civil Service Status Act.

Now there are consequences for the officer.

"For compelling official reasons, it was imperative to pronounce the official the provisional and immediate ban on conducting official business," says the Interior Ministry.

"It is also a matter of limiting the damage to the reputation of the state police as a whole and, in particular, of the Saalekreis police station."

The state chairman of the Police Union of Saxony-Anhalt, Olaf Sende, suspects according to "Bild" that the applause from the officer was ironic.

He called for a quick clarification.

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