Berlin/Dresden – The series of brutal attacks on politicians does not stop. As it became known on the night of today, an older man hit Berlin’s Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) on the head without warning with a bag containing a hard object during an appointment in a library on Tuesday afternoon, injuring her light. In Dresden, the Green Party’s top candidate for city council, Yvonne Mosler, was jostled and threatened while hanging up election posters.
In both cases, the suspects were quickly identified, according to the public prosecutor’s office. According to the information, there are “evidences of mental illness” for the man who is said to have attacked Giffey. The 74-year-old was already known to the police and there were findings in the area of hate crime, according to a joint statement from the Berlin public prosecutor’s office and the police. “However, investigations into the suspect’s motive behind yesterday’s attack are ongoing.”
The suspect has been temporarily admitted to a psychiatric hospital. “The decision to temporarily place the accused in a psychiatric hospital was issued and implemented as requested,” the Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office announced on X.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned the attacks on Berlin Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (SPD) and other politicians as “outrageous and cowardly”. “Anyone who gets involved deserves respect,” wrote the SPD politician in a post on Platform X. Violence does not belong in democratic debate. “The decent and sensible people are clearly against it – and they are the majority!” said Scholz.
BKA boss concerned about number of physical attacks
BKA President Holger Münch expressed concern about the growing violence against politicians and campaign workers. The Federal Criminal Police Office counted 27 physical attacks on politicians last year, and 22 this year, said the head of the authority in Bremen. But the number of insults has also increased significantly. Nationwide, the Greens are most affected by insults, and the AfD by physical injuries.
Münch called for targeted measures with a view to the European elections and the local elections in some federal states on June 9th. The police cannot protect all politicians and campaign workers. “We must not be under the illusion that this will all end with police protection.”
Giffey wants to continue to have close exchanges with citizens
Giffey said on Instagram that she was concentrating on a conversation with the head of the library and then suddenly felt a hard blow to her head and neck from behind. “A man attacked me with a bag filled with hard contents.” The senator attended public appointments on Wednesday. She told journalists: “There will always be situations where people come together and where there are arguments. You can’t cover everything.” Politicians shouldn’t be shielded in such a way that they lose touch with the citizens.
To better protect politicians and volunteer campaigners against attacks, the federal and state interior ministers are relying on more police accompaniment and examining stricter criminal law. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and the conference of interior ministers of the federal states called for an end to violence and agitation at a video conference on Tuesday evening.
The switch was scheduled after a brutal attack on SPD politician Matthias Ecke in Dresden last Friday. The Federal Ministry of Justice currently sees no specific criminal liability gaps, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday. However, the suggestions made by the interior ministers will be “benevolently examined”.
Not everyone is convinced of harsher punishments
The deputy chairman of the FDP parliamentary group, Konstantin Kuhle, told the German Press Agency: “Harder punishments are quickly required – especially shortly after high-profile crimes have occurred.” Police officers on site and a well-equipped, fast-working judiciary are much more effective . “Criminal law and criminal justice cannot be the repair shop for general social brutalization,” Kuhle pointed out.
The German Association of Judges (DRB) made a similar statement. “Nothing would be gained by tightening the law as long as there are problems with law enforcement due to large staff gaps,” said DRB Federal Managing Director, Sven Rebehn. At the same time, he emphasized that the judiciary is emphatically countering the ever-faster spiraling “spiral of hatred, threats and violence” and will hold the perpetrators accountable as quickly as possible.
Jostling and spitting attacks in Dresden
Meanwhile, the Dresden Greens announced that Mosler and co-leading candidate Cornelius Sternkopf were out with helpers early on Tuesday evening to hang up posters. A group shouted right-wing extremist slogans at them from a distance. A man from this group pushed the two candidates aside as they were putting up a poster and tore the poster down. The Deutsche Welle television team filmed him, and Mosler and other journalists present took photos.
Attacker wanted to force photo to be deleted
A little later, the man reportedly returned from the group accompanied by a woman, threatened Mosler and asked her to delete the photo of him from her cell phone. A young campaign worker then stood protectively in front of the candidate. The woman in the group spat in Mosler’s face.
Shortly after the incident, police officers found a 24-year-old and a 34-year-old in the immediate vicinity. According to police, the 34-year-old pushed the politician aside while she was putting up election posters and tore two posters down. He is also said to have insulted those present. The police also reported that the woman accompanying him suddenly spat on the politician. The 34-year-old is being investigated for bodily harm, threats, insults and damage to property, and the 24-year-old German is being investigated for bodily harm.
Since their group is said to have chanted the Hitler salute, they are also being investigated for using the symbols of unconstitutional organizations. Both suspects remained at large.
In other European countries, brutal attacks during election campaigns are rare, with the exception of Serbia. In Slovakia, there were various incidents during the election campaign for the parliamentary election on September 30, 2023: The most famous was a fight between the conservative-populist former head of government Igor Matovic and politicians from Robert Fico’s left-wing populist party “Social Democracy”, which then led to the election won.