According to the Interior Ministry, an arrest warrant has already been filed against one of the alleged perpetrators in the case of the gang rape of an 18-year-old in Freiburg. This was to be completed promptly "due to political reasons in connection with a further punitive measure," said a spokesman in Stuttgart.
Earlier, the "Bild" newspaper reported that the alleged prime suspect had already been searched by warrant. According to the ministry, it is not uncommon for a warrant to be arrested for tactical reasons.
An 18-year-old student is said to have been raped by several men after a disco visit to Freiburg on the night of 14 October. Eight men are in custody, seven Syrians aged 19 to 29 years and a 25-year-old German. The police are checking if there are more suspects. A 13-member "Investigation Group Club" works together with the State Criminal Police Office in Stuttgart.
The victim had allegedly celebrated in a discotheque Freiburg with a girlfriend and received a drink from an unknown man. Around midnight, the woman left the club with the man. She was defenseless from an unknown substance that was added to the drink.
In a nearby shrubbery, it came to the representation of the woman to a sexual assault by one of the alleged perpetrators. Subsequently, his companions should have passed on her. The suspects should already be known to the authorities for other crimes. Most of them lived in refugee camps in and around Freiburg, it said.
Several hundred demonstrators are expected in Freiburg for the evening, the AfD has called. At the same time counter-demonstrations were announced.