Because of suspected right-wing extremist cases, the police are apparently investigating more often than previously thought.
The German security authorities are challenged.
Munich - Do German security authorities have a problem with right-wing extremism?
In the recent past, several allegations such as the ammunition affair at the KSK or right-wing chat groups among police officers had become loud.
Now concrete numbers are given.
More police officers are affected than previously known.
Right-wing extremism: At least 272 suspected police cases
The Federal Ministry of the Interior had recently stated that 36 officials from the Federal Police and the Federal Criminal Police Office are currently being investigated under disciplinary law. According to a survey conducted by
Welt am Sonntag
among all federal and state justice and interior ministries, criminal and disciplinary proceedings are currently underway against at least 272 police officers - in connection with right-wing extremism or right-wing crimes *. Only Saarland did not report any current cases.
In reality, however, the number of suspected cases is higher.
This is due to the information from Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia, which are not comparable with the other data.
NRW, for example, stated that there are currently 144 references to suspected right-wing extremist cases.
The number of cases differs from that of individuals, however, as proceedings may be initiated against several persons or several suspected cases concern one person.
From January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2020, there were 31 proceedings against security officers (including the Office for the Protection of the Constitution) in Bavaria.
How many proceedings have already been completed remained unclear.
Right-wing extremism: Interior ministers monitor suspicious chat groups
This means that the police - excluding completed investigations - are running between 272 and 447 cases against men and women in connection with right-wing extremism. Specifically, according to
Welt,
the investigation is
about a connection “with a suspicion of right-wing extremism”, “membership in chat groups in which allegedly right-wing extremist and / or hate speech content was shared” and “possible PMK right-wing offenses”, PMK stands for political -motivated crime. There were 333,600 police officers in Germany in September. Of these, 52,100 worked for the federal and 281,500 for the respective state police.
Right-wing extremist chat content keeps making headlines with the police.
From the point of view of the interior ministers, officials should therefore also be able to be prosecuted if they share inflammatory content in closed chat groups.
Background: According to lawyers, posting right-wing extremist photos or videos in WhatsApp groups by police officers is not necessarily a criminal offense.
The interior ministers are calling for such cases to be consistently prosecuted.
The conference of justice ministers should examine the possible introduction of a new criminal offense.
Right-wing extremist: "KSK affair" - focus on security authorities
In addition, 37 officials are currently being investigated for violations of the gun law. In this context, memories of the ammunition affair at the Special Forces Command (KSK) * are loud. The focus of attention was on KSK commander Markus Kreitmayr after it became known that last year he had given soldiers the opportunity to return unauthorized ammunition without further penalties. From the end of March to the end of April 2020, more than 40,000 rounds of ammunition and probably hand grenades were collected.
The Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) is also confronted with accusations of right-wing extremist tendencies.
At the beginning of 2020, around 550 proceedings against soldiers in connection with right-wing extremism, especially at the KSK, were carried out at the Bundeswehr's secret service.
Because the MAD is said to have dealt with these suspected cases rather carelessly, it came under criticism as did Federal Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) *.
Seehofer: "Right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism are the greatest threat"
Federal Interior Minister Horst Seehofer (CSU) also came into focus. After incidents like the riot in Stuttgart *, the former Bavarian Prime Minister declined to accept a study on racism in the police only in a modified form. There will be no study "which is directed against the police with allegations and allegations." Instead, Seehofer proposed an investigation into general police life, the relationship between the state and society and the changed social framework.
Right-wing extremism and racism, however, have to be met “with zero tolerance”. The study will ensure “that this will also be lived in the security authorities in the future”. In the past few months, Seehofer had repeatedly portrayed right-wing extremism as a security threat. "Right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism are the greatest threat," he said at the interior ministers' conference in June.
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