When Dijana Avdic goes to her car parked in front of the front door in the morning, the first thing she thinks about is an accident: A massive square metal rod protrudes from the shattered windshield of her vehicle.

As she steps closer and sees that no other car in the line is affected, that there is no damage to be seen anywhere else, she realizes that intent was at work here.

This is not a simple scratch on the paintwork, but a two meter long rod that literally pierces the car.

And because there is no construction site far and wide that could provide the material for spontaneous property damage, the assumption remains: whoever rammed the piece of metal into their Opel with force probably brought it with them to use it in exactly the same way.

Monica Ganster

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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Dijana Avdic is a local politician, she represents the Serbian list in the local foreigners' representation (KAV) and is an active member of the SPD.

Was your vehicle accidentally damaged?

Police have filed a complaint against unknown persons.

For data protection reasons, the police do not want to confirm whether the case was handed over to state security, as Dijana Avdic writes on her Facebook page.

The state security is switched on if a political background to the crime is likely.

Not an isolated case

The car was already damaged on March 8th, International Women's Day.

Avdic also doesn't quite believe in coincidence with this date.

"I'm a young woman in a distinguished position," she says.

Maybe that will bother some people.

To whom exactly, she is unable or unwilling to say.

For a long time, the twenty-seven-year-old struggled with whether she should make the incident public at all and thus draw even more attention to herself.

But acquaintances, mostly women, encouraged her to flee to the front.

"This must not be an ordinary thing in Frankfurt," she states.

Your case is not unique.

In the last few months, two other people had been the victims of attempts at intimidation in the municipal representation for foreigners: Sarya Atac (Die Linke) had reported threats against them from the ranks of the “Grey Wolves”, Turkish right-wing extremists.

Jumas Medoff, the chairman of the KAV, had received a threatening letter with anti-Semitic content sent to his private address, in which he and his family were threatened with consequences if he continued to get involved.

Those affected by the KAV are by no means alone in this: According to the latest figures from the Federal Criminal Police Office from 2021, crimes against public officials and elected officials have increased by almost 200 percent in four years.

In 2021 there were 4458 crimes;

In 2017 there were still 1527.

From 2016 to 2019, a total of 246 crimes against politicians or their buildings, vehicles or political institutions were recorded in Hesse.

Since local politicians are affected more often, Hesse is having threats and criminal offenses against local politicians recorded in a targeted manner from this year on.

A case with more dimensions

Dijana Avdic has dealt with these numbers more than ever in the past few weeks and wants to act.

In the upcoming meeting of the KAV on Monday, she wants to bring a suggestion to the city councilors and call for a round table on the subject of "Security of local politicians with or without a migration background".

Local politicians, the police, KAV and the head of the Anti-Racism Coordination Office are to take part.

In view of the attacks on local politicians, all actors involved should regularly check whether the preventive measures are still sufficient or whether the safety of the elected officials needs to be guaranteed differently than before.

For Avdic, the case has another dimension: Almost all parties wanted more women to get involved in politics, including those with a migration background.

Because the social diversity is not yet reflected in the parliaments.

Not even in the KAV, although attempts are being made there to hold the few active women accountable: all six – out of a total of 37 delegates – have been promoted to the presidency of the representation for foreigners.

Her family, although very politically active themselves, asked Avdic after the incident with the destroyed car whether this work was still worthwhile for her.

She replied on her Facebook page: "In case the goal was intimidation, the opposite reaction was achieved: I will continue my path and my work all the more consistently."