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Moderator Jan Böhmermann
Photo: Christophe Gateau / dpa
The experiment of the program “ZDF Magazin Royale” on how the police deal with hate messages online also has an aftermath in Brandenburg.
"The facts have led to a criminal complaint being filed against the acting police officer ex officio on suspicion of frustration in the office," said the spokesman for the Brandenburg police headquarters, Torsten Herbst.
This is due to the fact that the officer on site obviously did not take any criminal charges.
In Saxony, Bremen and Saxony-Anhalt, investigations are also being carried out on suspicion of thwarting criminal prosecution.
Last summer, the editors of the program by satirist Jan Böhmermann reported seven obviously criminally relevant hate messages to police stations in all 16 federal states and later described the mostly sluggish course of the investigation.
Death threats were displayed, as were anti-Semitic content and anti-constitutional, right-wing extremist symbols.
Printed hate comments submitted
According to the production company, the correspondent presented the police officer in Fürstenwalde/Spree with the printed out hate comments.
The official was shocked and praised the correspondent for how exemplary she had recorded everything.
She therefore asked them to identify themselves and said that an anonymous report was unfortunately not possible.
The correspondent explained that she was afraid that her data could fall into the wrong hands.
The officer replied that it was unlikely, but advised her to send an anonymous complaint by post.
"This way was not correct," Herbst told the "Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung".
It is also possible to report anonymously at the station.
The police have a duty to pursue information about criminal offenses.
In two of the seven cases that the correspondent indicated as hate comments, the Cottbus public prosecutor's office was conducting the proceedings, it said.
For the other five cases, there are already procedures in other federal states.
atb/dpa