Riots on New Year's Eve: SPD leader Esken questions police tactics in Leipzig

After the riots in Leipzig, SPD leader Saskia Esken calls for a review of the police operation on New Year's Eve. If a wrong tactic of action "put the police unnecessarily in danger", the responsibility lies with the Saxon Interior Minister Roland Wöller (CDU), Esken told the newspapers of the Funke media group. In the interests of the police officers, it was now necessary to quickly clarify whether the tactics had been appropriate.

In the Connewitz district of Leipzig, police and rioters clashed shortly after midnight on New Year's Eve. According to the police, a 38-year-old officer was injured so badly that he had to be taken to the hospital and operated on. The Saxon State Criminal Investigation Office investigated in the case of attempted murder against unknown. Twelve other investigations were initiated into other crimes and, according to the police, 22 other officers were slightly injured. It is unclear exactly what triggered the escalation.

Esken cited the Berlin police as a role model, which over the years had developed a de-escalation strategy based on the experience of comparable riots on May 1 or New Year's. This strategy has proven itself. The SPD leader also emphasized that her party condemned the violence waged by the rioters in Leipzig. "It is terrible that a police officer was injured so badly," she said.

Interior Minister Seehofer also intervenes

The incident in Connewitz triggered sharp political discussions: Saxon left-wing MP Juliane Nagel sharply criticized the police operation and spoke of "calculated provocation". Federal Minister of the Interior Horst Seehofer (CSU), on the other hand, said that the act of Leipzig shows that "inhuman violence" also comes from "left-wing extremists" (read more about the political reactions here).

It is also controversial whether the police communication strategy was appropriate to the situation. The "taz" had reported that "hospital circles" were "surprised" by the description of the injury by the police and their statements that there had been an "emergency operation". There was an operation on the auricle of the 38-year-old under local anesthesia, the paper quoted from these circles.

A police spokesman rejected the criticism of the AFP news agency: The official was "seriously injured" and had to be "urgently operated on", the Leipzig police had never spoken of fatalities for the colleague. Leipzig police chief Torsten Schultze said in an interview with the Leipziger Volkszeitung that the policeman had suffered "traumatic brain injury".