Exclusive
Status: 10/01/2021 3:30 p.m.
The public prosecutor’s office is investigating several BKA bodyguards. It’s about showing the Hitler salute, threats and improper handling of ammunition. The opposition calls for the unity to be dissolved.
The past few weeks have been busy for the bodyguards at the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). For them, the federal election campaign means a vacation ban and a lot of overtime. They accompany a few dozen government politicians and members of the Bundestag who are considered to be at risk in numerous appearances nationwide. Although the situation was considered tense this year due to the radicalizing “lateral thinker” scene, there were no major incidents.
Some BKA bodyguards were not allowed to work. It is being investigated against them. It is about the allegation that there should have been racist and sexist behavior, as well as the improper handling of ammunition. The focus is on a small unit of around 30 men called Abroad and Special Operations (ASE).
The ASE members accompany and protect politicians in particularly dangerous situations, for example when traveling to war and crisis areas such as Afghanistan, Iraq or Libya. In return, the bodyguards receive special training as well as more robust armament and equipment.
Hitler salute and ammunition
In a letter to the Interior Committee of the Bundestag, which the WDR was able to see, the Federal Ministry of the Interior now reported that the Berlin public prosecutor’s office is investigating several cases against BKA bodyguards. It is about showing a Hitler salute as well as a threatening situation, and about the “possible storage of allegedly non-official ammunition in an office building of the BKA”.
In two other cases, however, the public prosecutor sees no initial suspicion or has stopped the investigation, according to the letter from the Interior Ministry. This concerns a case in which depictions of violence, namely Islamist beheading videos, are said to have been shared in a chat, and an allegation that ammunition from the BKA was allegedly embezzled.
Ammunition of unknown origin in the locker
In July, ammunition was discovered in a locker during a routine check of a federal police officer who was also working as a bodyguard at the BKA until the beginning of this year and is said to have also applied to the ASE. It is said to be around 200 rounds, including BKA ammunition, the origin of which has not yet been clarified. In this case, the Bonn public prosecutor’s office is investigating.
In addition to the criminal proceedings, several disciplinary proceedings against ASE members would continue, according to the Interior Ministry. There have also already been personal consequences. “The restructuring of the organizational unit concerned has been initiated.”
Sexism, bullying, marginalization
The allegations in the room against the BKA bodyguards were made known last year, among other things by a whistleblower. The detective commissioner is said to have applied internally to the ASE, which so far has only included men. The officer is said to have passed entrance exams for several weeks, but ultimately failed. According to this, the police officer is said to have written a multi-page letter in August 2020 and sent it to the equal opportunities officer of the BKA.
In it, she raises serious allegations against the ASE. She experienced racist and sexist slogans, bullying and exclusion during the admission process. There is a strange corps spirit and a “two-class society”.
Bodyguards with “Rambo demeanor”
BKA President Holger Münch is said to have learned of the police officer’s information only months later. The head of the authorities then filed a criminal complaint against several bodyguards in his office in November 2020. Internal investigations were also launched and witnesses were interviewed to clarify the matter.
As a result, further allegations should have become known. Among other things, there should be significant deficits in the handling of ammunition among the bodyguards. In the BKA, the martial appearance and “Rambo demeanor” of the ASE members are said to have been criticized again and again, some of whom are said to have walked through the BKA premises in Berlin in flecktarn uniform.
Criticism of the crisis management
“Almost a third of the employees of the ASE are said to have been noticed by right-wing extremist or sexist behavior, the other two-thirds of the group are said to have tolerated the behavior for far too long,” criticizes the Green Party politician Irene Mihalic. You ask yourself whether the announced reorganization of the special unit is “extensive enough and sufficient”. No new beginning will be possible without personnel consequences and without a “credible error culture”.
FDP interior expert Benjamin Strasser points out that the “undesirable developments and grievances” in the bodyguards of the BKA office management apparently “remained hidden for years”. Strasser criticizes an “elitist leadership culture” and a “lax handling of service regulations”. He doubts that the measures taken so far will solve the problems in the long term. “It makes more sense to dissolve the ASE unit and to restructure its tasks within the BKA,” said the FDP politician.
In the BKA, however, efforts are made to ensure transparency and damage limitation. A video message was published on the agency’s intranet a few weeks ago. In it you can see the head of the authority Holger Münch, Steffen Russ, the head of the security group and thus the specialist supervision of the bodyguards of the BKA, as well as the authority’s new values officer. The allegations against the bodyguards will be fully investigated and such behavior will not be tolerated in any form, according to the video. Anyone who notices such incidents should report this immediately.