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FDP politician Dietmar Brockes at a state parliament session at the end of August
Photo: Michael Gstettenbauer / IMAGO
The North Rhine-Westphalian member of the state parliament Dietmar Brockes is said to have been involved in an argument with two other Wiesn visitors at the Munich Oktoberfest on Sunday evening.
A lawyer for the FDP politician told SPIEGEL that his client was the victim of an attempted theft.
A woman and her companion tried to steal the MP's mobile phone.
Brockes caught the two in the act and photographed them “for the purpose of preserving evidence”.
The two then tried to delete the photo;
In the scuffle, Brockes is said to have "touched the woman's face with the palm of his hand."
First, the "image" reported on the incident.
Accordingly, after the scuffle, Brockes was taken into custody by security staff and handed over to the police.
The politician left an inquiry on this point unanswered.
His lawyer told SPIEGEL that Brockes had filed a criminal complaint with the Munich police headquarters.
Brockes spoke out "strictly against violence as a means of resolving conflicts" and welcomed the fact that the events were being clarified in an objective process.
The spokeswoman for the Munich public prosecutor's office, Anne Leiding, confirmed to SPIEGEL that there were "findings by the police" in this regard on Sunday evening.
It is currently being examined whether a procedure can be initiated.
This so-called "examination process" stems from the immunity intended to protect elected officials against politically motivated lawsuits.
According to Leiding, prior to further investigations, a notification must first be sent to the President of the State Parliament and a waiting period must be observed.
The public prosecutor's office left unanswered the question of whether the unknown woman was being investigated.
The FDP state parliamentary group takes the allegations from the reporting very seriously, said Marcel Hafke, parliamentary director of the FDP state parliamentary group in North Rhine-Westphalia.
"Nevertheless, it is an open and ongoing process that has not yet been completed." Accordingly, it is too early for a final assessment from which any consequences can then be derived.
