The affair of possible right-wing extremists in the Hessian police is expanding. After investigations into a chat group in the Frankfurt police, three further incidents in other departments are being investigated. This confirmed Hesse CDU Interior Minister Peter Beuth at a special meeting of the Interior Committee in Wiesbaden.
In the new incidents – two more officials were suspended this week from the service – there are so far no investigations of the prosecutor as in Frankfurt. There, five officials from the first station, who had already left the service in October, are said to have sent insulting and xenophobic videos and texts via a messenger service. The Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office investigates incitement and the use of license plates of unconstitutional organizations.
A few days ago, according to Beuth’s information, one of the chat group attributed sixth official was also suspended. The authorities had the events „immediately pursued vigorously,“ said the CDU politician and dismissed allegations of the opposition. There is currently no evidence for a „right network“ in the police. In contrast, the SPD, Left and FDP unanimously spoke of a „scandal“.
Lawyer received threat by fax
The starting point for the investigation was on August 2, the announcement of a Frankfurt-based lawyer. Their two-year-old daughter had been threatened according to Minister of the Interior Beuth in a fax under the sender „NSU 2.0“ with the death. The woman had represented in the process of Beate Zschäpe and the NSU terrorist group victims and had also defended alleged Islamist perpetrators. In the course of the investigation, the authorities came to the conclusion that background information about the lawyer from the police information system of a computer of an official of the 1st district in Frankfurt was requested.
According to the Interior Minister, the official on 11 September had a search warrant. On their private cell phone, the investigators came across the chat group. According to Beuths it came on 25 October in the same proceedings for further searches in Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Kirtorf Vogelsbergkreis and weather in the district Marburg-Biedenkopf.
Who is responsible for the threatening to the lawyer and whether it comes from circles of the police, is not clear. That would have to result in the investigation, said Beuth, who learned according to his information on 6 August from the threatening letter. Subsequently, the police in Frankfurt took over the investigation.
Officials should sympathize with „Reich citizens“
The recent cases mentioned by Beuth in the committee are concerned with the fact that two officials from the police headquarters in West and East Hesse are to be closely associated with the „Reich citizens“. After house searches last Monday, material had been secured. Both were suspended. In another case, a 21-year-old commissioner for police officers was arrested last week in Offenbach in a brawl in which xenophobic songs were said to have been heard. In addition, officials of the police headquarters Southeast Hesse in 2016 have exchanged in a closed WhatsApp group four images with right-wing extremist content.
In the ongoing investigation in Frankfurt Beuth should have informed the opposition at least the incumbents in the Interior Committee. In a threatening letter „NSU 2.0“ had the ministers all „alarm bells“ ring, criticized the SPD. The Left Party recalled that the Landtag in August had dealt with the final report on the investigation of the NSU affair in Hesse. The FDP argued that the LKA must have the lead in investigations against police officers by decree.
