Police begins probe as another German politician comes under attack

By Marc Kalpidis and Lilli Kleine, dpa

 

BERLIN – German police have kicked off an investigation into the attack on German Senator for Economy, Energy and Enterprise, Franziska Giffey.

Franzisky Giffey  was slightly injured in the assault in a library in the Rudow district of the German capital and was subsequently treated in hospital.

A man suddenly “attacked the former mayor from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck” in a library on Tuesday afternoon, police and the Berlin public prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday night.

The state police have taken over the investigation of the assault on the politician, who belongs to the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), the dominant party in Germany’s ruling coalition.

After the attack Giffey, a former Berlin mayor and former federal minister, “briefly went to hospital for outpatient treatment for head and neck pain,” police and the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The attacker’s motive was initially not confirmed by police. The attack comes amid a number of assaults on German politicians recently.

Berlin’s senator for sports Iris Spranger condemned the attack on social media platform X, formerly Twitter.

“I strongly condemn the attack on Franziska Giffey and on other politicians and election workers, all of whom are committed to a democratic debate,” Spranger wrote in the early hours of Wednesday.

“The state and federal police forces are doing everything they can to protect politicians. The conference of interior ministers agreed yesterday at the special session that democracy must be protected more effectively against hate speech and false information,” the post continued.

“The protection of individuals from such attacks under criminal law also serves to protect democracy itself.”

On Tuesday, federal and state interior ministers agreed on the need for tougher penalties for violent crimes targeting politicians and volunteers ahead of upcoming election campaigns, in talks called after an attack on a German lawmaker last week.

The ministers also discussed policing measures and weighed tightening criminal law.

On Friday, Matthias Ecke, who represents the SPD in the European Parliament, was brutally beaten by four assailants while hanging campaign posters in the eastern German city of Dresden.

Saxony’s Criminal Police Office (LKA) said that at least one of the four suspects is part of the right-wing political scene. On Tuesday evening, a Green Party politician was also the victim of an attack in Dresden.