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Iris Rose, widow of the deceased, and daughter Diane at the press conference: “The perpetrators are still alive. They have their lives and they show no remorse."

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa

What happened to Jürgen Rose on the night of December 6th to 7th, 1997 between three and five o'clock remains unclear to this day. According to a research group, it is proven that he was in police custody before three o'clock and that two hours later he was found seriously injured in front of a house entrance not far from the Dessau police station. And that he died on December 8, 1997 from severe internal injuries. The research group, together with Rose's surviving relatives, has now made new allegations against Dessau police officers. It was concluded that at least four police officers on the night shift had physically abused him, said Nadine Saeed from the research center at a press conference on Thursday.

The research center is an association of media professionals and activists who, according to their own statements, carry out “state-independent investigative work in cases of suspected police murders”. The group submitted a 40-page murder complaint to the Federal Prosecutor General on Thursday.

The press office of the Federal Prosecutor General confirmed receipt of the complaint to SPIEGEL. It is now being examined whether the Federal Prosecutor's Office is responsible for the case. The highest German investigative authority generally only takes action in state security crimes, such as right-wing extremism, or crimes under the International Criminal Code, such as war crimes. Otherwise, the federal states are responsible for criminal prosecution. When asked by the dpa news agency, the Dessau police did not want to comment on the allegations.

Rose, then 36 years old and the father of small children, died after he was found helpless in front of a house entrance not far from the police station. The day before, he had been in police custody for drunk driving. The death has not yet been solved, according to the research center. The investigation was last closed in 2014 without any results.

Investigation files allegedly manipulated

The initiative bases its complaint, among other things, on a report by the British written forensic expert John Welch, who analyzed the so-called police situation film in which the operations were documented. "It is the central document that provides the chronology around December 7th and 8th, 1997 in the Dessau police station," said Luke Harrow from the research center.

Welch's findings would provide expert evidence that the investigation file was manipulated - "in our opinion with the intention of misrepresenting the events of the evening in order to divert suspicion from the police officers allegedly involved," said Harrow.

The research center released a 20-minute film about the Rose case on Tuesday. To do this, they studied the investigation files and then published them and conducted interviews with those involved, including a forensic doctor. This ruled out that the location was the crime scene. She also noticed signs of violence on Rose's body, such as those that could come from batons.

It is not the only death that caused a stir in the Dessau police station. The death of Oury Jalloh made headlines across the country. In 2005, his body burned after a fire in his cell. A third case in 2002 remains unsolved to this day. According to the research center, there were personnel overlaps among the officers on duty.

»The perpetrators are still alive. They have their lives and they show no remorse," said Rose's widow on Thursday at the research group's press conference, according to a statement from the Left. The parliamentary group in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt demanded that it now be carefully examined whether the new information leads to new approaches for investigating and clarifying the circumstances of the death.

sun/dpa