Interior ministers are examining options
Attacks on politicians should be punished more harshly
May 7, 2024, 9:18 p.m
The number of attacks on politicians will increase by 53 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year. The most recent incident, a brutal attack on the SPD politician Ecke, has caused the interior ministers of the federal states to reconsider the punishment.
In response to the violent attack on the SPD MEP Matthias Ecke in Dresden, the federal and state interior ministers want to review tightening criminal law. This is the result of a virtual special meeting of the Conference of Interior Ministers (IMK), as the chairman of the Brandenburg department, Michael Stübgen, announced. The existing criminal law “no longer adequately reflects the threat to officials and elected officials, but also to volunteers,” said the CDU politician.
This primarily concerns the criminal offenses of bodily harm and coercion, said Stübgen. Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke of an “extremely brutal act of violence” against Ecke. The number of attacks on elected officials has already increased by 53 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. “We therefore need a very clear stop signal.”
Politically violent perpetrators must feel the full severity of the rule of law, “through quick and consistent procedures and punishments,” emphasized the SPD politician in a statement before the meeting. “If we have to further tighten criminal law in order to punish anti-democratic acts more harshly, I will quickly discuss this with the Federal Minister of Justice.” Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster has already announced a Federal Council initiative to tighten penalties for attacks on politicians and election workers.
“We need even more visible police presence on site to protect Democrats at campaign stands and at events,” emphasized Faeser. But it is also clear: “The police cannot be everywhere at the same time, but they can adapt protection concepts and increase their presence, as is already happening in many places.” She promised to relieve the burden on the states by deploying the federal police. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Criminal Police Office are also prepared accordingly. There must be a “political culture of respect” again.
The 41-year-old Ecke was attacked by several people while posting posters in Dresden on Friday evening and was so seriously injured that he had to undergo surgery. On Monday he spoke up via Platform X and thanked everyone for their participation. Police and prosecutors accuse four young Germans aged 17 and 18 of carrying out the attack. The background remains unclear. However, a 17-year-old is said to have connections to the right-wing extremist milieu.