Racism scandal
North Rhine-Westphalia police confirmed 53 right-wing extremist suspected cases
The policemen concerned were released, but will probably get away with it under criminal law, since WhatsApp chats are considered private communication (symbol image)
© Weronika Peneshko / DPA
One year after suspected right-wing extremist cases became known to the North Rhine-Westphalia police, the suspicion has already been confirmed in 53 employees. The officers are said to have made racist statements in private WhatsApp chats.
It has been around a year since hundreds of right-wing extremist suspected cases by the police in North Rhine-Westphalia became public. The policemen concerned: inside staged a Hitler salute, shared SS Christmas greetings and formed swastikas with their service ammunition. The Ministry of the Interior has now confirmed that the suspicion has already been confirmed in 53 employees. The cases were finally examined and punished.
138 pending examinations by the police in North Rhine-Westphalia
The consequences were mostly of a legal nature: Six trainees to the Commissioner had been dismissed. The Ministry of the Interior announced a few weeks ago that there were two dismissals and three warnings in the labor law proceedings.
The suspicion was not confirmed in 84 clues, according to a current balance sheet. They were also finally checked. If there are 138 remaining clues, the check is still ongoing. From 2017 to the end of September this year, the North Rhine-Westphalian police authorities had reported 275 suspected cases.
Police officer shared pictures with Nazi salute
Of the 138 cases still open, the criminal investigation has already been concluded in 79 cases. In 59 suspected cases, both the criminal law examinations and the subsequent labor, disciplinary or civil service law examinations are still ongoing.
The scandal surrounding right-wing extremist chat groups in the police force had widened more and more in the past year. The forbidden Horst Wessel song was found on confiscated data storage media. This is the battle song of the SA and the later party anthem of the NSDAP.
An official is said to have posted photos of Christmas tree baubles with SS runes and “Sieg Heil” inscription. Another officer had discovered photos with a swastika that had been laid out of service ammunition. A police officer in uniform had himself photographed standing on two patrol cars showing the “Hitler salute”.
Under criminal law, the police officers concerned usually got away with a clean slate because the judiciary classified the WhatsApp chats as private communication. Relevant criminal offenses such as the dissemination of unconstitutional labels did not take effect.
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