NEWS FROM BERLIN
Neo-Nazi attack at Ostkreuz: Berlin police recognised the danger – and took no action
After around 15 masked neo-Nazis attacked people travelling to a demonstration against right-wing extremism at Berlin’s Ostkreuz on 6 July, further details have now emerged. An answer from the Senate Interior Administration to a question from Left Party MPs Ferat Koçak and Niklas Schrader reveals that the police were expecting such attacks – but decided not to protect those travelling to the demonstration. The behaviour of the police raises questions, as the security authorities are aware of the danger posed by neo-Nazi groups. As Koçak says: “The police must face the question of why they did not protect the meeting point of the anti-fascist demonstrators”. Source: tagesspiegel
Up to 12,000 “lateral thinkers” march through Berlin
Four years after their first major demonstration, Querdenkers (“lateral thinkers”) have once again demonstrated in Berlin. Up to 12,000 people took to the streets to criticise the policies of the federal government. Corona was again a major issue. Posters from the party Die Basis, which is regarded as the party-political arm of the “Querdenker” movement, read, among other things, “friedensfähig statt kriegstüchtig” (peace-capable instead of war-capable). Along the rally, there had been several violations of the requirement not to display posters relating to the magazine “Compact”, which has since been banned and classified as right-wing extremist by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Source: rbb
Rail traffic in Berlin still disrupted after suspected arson attack
Rail traffic in Berlin remains disrupted over the weekend following a fire in a cable shaft. Since last Friday, there have been considerable restrictions on long-distance, regional and S-Bahn services in the Jungfernheide area. Deutsche Bahn expects these disruptions to continue into the coming week – their website states that they might last until 6 August. A few hours after the fire, a declaration appeared on the Internet. On the internet platform “Indymedia”, which is often used by left-wing extremists, it said that the Deutsche Bahn rail network was “part of the Nato military infrastructure”. Source: rbb
Funding for project on sexualised violence fails due to political influence
The women and children – mainly from Korea and China – who served as forced prostitutes for Japanese soldiers during the Second World War are euphemistically referred to as “comfort women”. There is a statue related to this in Moabit, and this is under risk of being removed at the end of September 2024. The district office observes, among other things, a statue that has not emerged from a public competition cannot be authorised for more than a maximum of two years. The Mayor Kai Wegner (CDU) also expressed a similar plan during his visit to Tokyo in May 2024. Source: rbb
NEWS FROM GERMANY
798 outstanding arrest warrants against Nazis
There were at the end of March of this year 798 outstanding arrest warrants related to right-wing extremists according to the Ministry of the Interior’s response to a small enquiry by the Left Party and published by “taz”. The figures are roughly on a par with those from the previous reporting from the year before: On 29 September 2023, there were 776 arrest warrants. The current figure is particularly remarkable because in the six months in between, 348 old arrest warrants against neo-Nazis were cancelled – either because the wanted persons were actually arrested or the warrants were cancelled in other ways, for example by paying a fine. Source: taz
Former GDR civil rights activists warn against coalitions with BSW
Former GDR civil rights activists warn against the new party Alliance Sahra Wagenknecht (BSW) joining the government after the state elections in East Germany. The former head of the Stasi Records Office, Marianne Birthler, told the German Press Agency (dpa) that there is great concern that the BSW could join the government, especially because of the Wagenknecht party’s foreign policy positions. This concern is the tenor of an open letter which, according to Birthler, originated in Saxony. In the document, published on Platform X, one reason given for the warning are statements by Wagenknecht and other BSW members on the war in Ukraine which are critised. Source: web.de
