Dresden
Investigators identify additional young suspects after the attack on Matthias Ecke
An election poster shows the SPD’s top EU candidates: Matthias Ecke and Katarina Barley
© Jens Schlueter / Getty Images
The SPD politician Matthias Ecke was brutally beaten in Saxony. The police have now identified several young suspects.
After the brutal attack on SPD politician Matthias Ecke and a Green Party election worker in Dresden, all four suspects are now known to the police. After one young person had already reported to the police, the three others were now also investigated, as the Saxony State Criminal Police Office and the Dresden public prosecutor’s office announced on Monday. Evidence was seized during apartment searches and is now being evaluated.
Investigators identify additional suspects between the ages of 17 and 18
The four accused are young men aged 17 and 18. A 17-year-old turned himself in to the police on Sunday night and said he had knocked down the SPD politician.
During the course of the investigation, two additional suspects were initially identified. Their apartments were confiscated by order of the district court Dresden was searched early on Sunday evening. A fourth suspect was identified on Sunday, whose apartment was also searched late in the evening. Investigators said evidence was confiscated and is now being evaluated.
Corner is still in the hospital. He underwent surgery on Sunday. The 41-year-old suffered a fracture of the cheekbone and eye socket as well as hematomas on his face, said Saxon SPD leader Henning Homann. Shortly before the attack on Ecke, according to police, the same group had also injured a Green Party campaign worker nearby.
After the brutal attack on Matthias Ecke: Solidarity from politics and society
The attack on the Dresden SPD MEP Ecke while hanging election posters caused horror across Germany and sparked a debate about the escalation of violence in the election campaign. On Sunday, several thousand people demonstrated for democracy and against violence in Dresden and Berlin. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier appealed to everyone to conduct the political debate peacefully and with respect.
Two alliances had called for demonstrations in Berlin and Dresden on Sunday afternoon – the motto: “Violence has no place in our democracy!”. According to police and organizers, around 3,000 people came together in the Saxon state capital, including Bundestag Vice President Katrin-Göring-Eckardt (Greens) and SPD federal chairwoman Saskia Esken. In Berlin, according to the police, around 1,000 demonstrators gathered at the Brandenburg Gate; according to later information from the organizers, there were ultimately around 3,000 people. These included the Green Party chairmen Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil and the Prime Ministers of Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia, Michael Kretschmer and Hendrik Wüst (both CDU).
By Sunday afternoon, more than 100 members of various parliaments had signed the so-called Striesen Declaration, including the chairmen of the SPD, the Greens and the Left as well as members of the Union. The declaration is against “the ever-escalating violence against politically active people in public spaces.” The SPD politician was attacked in the Striesen district of Dresden.
Interior Minister Faeser is calling for more police presence in the election campaign
“We need even more visible police presence on site to protect Democrats at campaign stands and at events,” said Federal Interior Minister Faeser to the “Rheinische Post” (Monday). “In terms of the rule of law, we must now act more harshly against violent criminals and more protection for democratic forces,” she emphasized. She will meet “very quickly” with the interior ministers of the federal states about this.
The federal and state governments want to discuss possible consequences of the violence on Tuesday. This was announced by the chairman of the Conference of Interior Ministers, Brandenburg’s department head Michael Stübgen (CDU): “I will suggest to my state colleagues next Tuesday as the date for an informal meeting at the level of the Conference of Interior Ministers.” The case may have a parliamentary aftermath in Saxony.
Note: This article has been updated.