After a racist attack on a 20-year-old in Bad Schlema (Erzgebirgskreis), a police officer is also being investigated.
The 39-year-old is said to have been involved in the dispute, as the Zwickau police department, where the man works, announced on Tuesday.
Disciplinary proceedings had been initiated against him.
"Racism and xenophobia have no place in the ranks of the Saxony police," emphasized Police President Lutz Rodig.
According to earlier information from the Chemnitz Police Department, eight men between the ages of 37 and 49 initially insulted the young Somali in a bus on Saturday evening in a “xenophobic” manner. Then at least two of them would have pushed the man to the ground and kicked him. He was slightly injured in the process. The bus driver had alerted the police. It is being investigated for dangerous bodily harm.
The police in Zwickau now said that the police officer who was obviously involved was out privately that evening. On video recordings from the bus, "an active contribution of the officer to the dangerous bodily harm is not evident," said the police. "But it can also be seen that the police officer did not stop the physical attack and did not come to the aid of the 20-year-old, who was slightly injured." It must be checked whether the officer has committed a criminal offense.
The parliamentary group leader of the left in the state parliament, Rico Gebhardt, was outraged on Twitter. A policeman who watches when a person is attacked has "really no place" in the Saxon police, he wrote. Clara Bünger, left-wing Bundestag candidate for the constituency in which the attack occurred, called for the matter to be fully clarified. "In the past we have unfortunately often seen that such cases were not identified, with serious consequences for those affected." There is a suspicion of jointly committed dangerous physical injuries.