Frankfurt police officers are again suspected of having participated in right-wing extremist chats.

The focus is on a SEK official who is also said to have been guilty of possession of child pornography.

As the Frankfurt public prosecutor announced on Wednesday, several apartments were searched by officials in the morning.

Katharina Iskandar

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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    The investigations are directed against a total of 20 officers, including 19 active police officers and a former police officer, aged 29 to 54 years.

    Seventeen of them are accused of having distributed incitatory content as participants in various chat groups.

    Most of the entries that the investigators were able to reconstruct are older and date from 2016 and 2017. But also from 2019, when right-wing extremist chats within the police were an issue in the investigation of the NSU threatening letter series NSU 2.0 Messages sent and posts shared among each other.

    Investigations into child pornography

    The police had tracked down the group when they were investigating the 38-year-old SEK officer for child pornography. When evaluating his communication, they also discovered right-wing extremist chats. The accused was active in the Special Operations Command (SEK) of the Frankfurt Police Headquarters, as were the other officers whose apartments have now been searched. The Hessian State Criminal Police Office started the investigation on April 21, 2021 on behalf of the public prosecutor's office. A working group was set up. In the course of further evaluation, the 20 officials could be identified.

    Investigations were started against three of the 20 accused, who held higher positions within the Frankfurt police, solely on suspicion of thwarting punishment, as they were participants in the chat groups and, as superiors, did not prevent communication or ensure that they were be prosecuted. The homes of six suspects between the ages of 41 and 47, as well as their offices in the police headquarters, were searched. All 19 active police officers accused were banned from conducting official business. One of the officers will also be suspended. In addition, according to the public prosecutor, the communicative content is checked "for any relevance under service law"