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Police operation (symbolic image)
Photo: Matthias Bein / dpa
According to “Stern”, disciplinary or investigative proceedings are being conducted against at least 400 police officers in the federal states on suspicion of right-wing extremist views or support for a conspiracy ideology. This was the result of a query by the magazine and the broadcaster RTL in the 16 interior ministries of the federal states, it said. However, Berlin, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Bremen and Thuringia did not provide any current figures.
North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul told "Stern": "Police officers who do not stand on the basis of the constitution but instead pursue extremist views are a great danger to democracy and the rule of law." He wants these people in the police do not have, said the CDU politician.
The magazine quotes the Bundestag police commissioner, Uli Grötsch (SPD), as saying: “We live in times in which right-wing extremists are deliberately trying to destabilize the police.” The danger is greater than ever.
According to the report, Berlin reports 96 disciplinary cases against police officers in progress, but cannot carry out an analysis according to areas such as “right” or “left”. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania only reports current figures in the third quarter, Baden-Württemberg only reports the status as of December 31, 2023. Other states such as Bremen and Thuringia therefore did not provide any information as to whether proceedings and investigations against police officers have already been completed or are still ongoing.
Investigations into possible extremists in the ranks of federal and state security authorities have been ongoing for years. The Federal Ministry of the Interior had already published a situation report on this in 2022. At that time it became known that within three years, 327 employees had come to attention because of demonstrable connections to right-wing extremism or the so-called Reichsbürger scene.
wit/dpa/AFP