After a nationwide Böhmermann experiment on how the police deal with reports of hate messages, the police in Leipzig are investigating on suspicion of thwarting criminal prosecution. Police said the investigation was still ongoing against unknown persons. After a verbal complaint was made in a Leipzig police station, nothing is said to have happened. The ad was therefore not even recorded.
The background is an action of the program “ZDF Magazin Royale” by the satirist Jan Böhmermann. Last summer, the editors reported seven obviously criminally relevant hate messages to police stations in all 16 federal states. Under the title “Tatütata.Fail” they then evaluate how the ads are handled.
According to their own statements, the Leipzig police searched their IT recording systems for the report. “As a result, it can be stated that what shouldn’t be a fact is a fact!” Leipzig’s police chief René Demmler explained: “Even if I can assure you that this is not a standard of the Leipzig police department, the case shows a deficit that needs to be clarified . As the Leipzig police, we have a clear responsibility here.”
The public prosecutor’s office is also investigating a police officer in Bremen on suspicion of frustration. Here, too, the background is the action of the program “ZDF Magazin Royale”. In Bremen, the police officer is said to have recorded the complaint, but only recorded it in the system two months later when the complainants asked. Now it must be checked why the matter was processed late, said the spokesman for the public prosecutor’s office.
The police officer concerned was transferred to the office, as the Bremen police announced on Tuesday. At this time, the Böhmermann research was not yet public knowledge. According to the report, the police filed a criminal complaint and initiated disciplinary proceedings against the man.
“In the case of hate crime, the Bremen police are dependent on the help and cooperation of the citizens,” it said. “Despite such an incident, we can only ask that a criminal complaint be filed. It is our self-image to pursue these crimes consistently and to counteract and help threats at an early stage.”
According to the “ZDF Magazin Royale”, the police in Saxony are “currently still investigating against unknown persons” because of possible thwarting of criminal prosecution in the office. The situation is similar in Magdeburg, where investigations are being carried out against an officer at the police station on suspicion of frustrating criminal prosecution. “According to previous knowledge, the receipt of a criminal complaint was omitted at the time,” said the Magdeburg police report on Saturday.
The matter is being investigated thoroughly and comprehensively. In addition, the police inspection made it clear that the police “take action against all forms of hate and hate speech.” The investigation into the specific case continued, it said. There were also reactions to the research from other countries – for example, there was praise for the police in Hesse on the show.
“Everything was done in eleven minutes. (…) It can be that easy,” summed up the police testers from “ZDF Magazin Royale”. At least one suspect has been charged there. The Hessian police saw themselves confirmed. “Since the murder of District President Walter Lübcke at the latest, we have been taking the fight against hate and hate speech very seriously, including on the Internet,” said a spokesman for the Hessian Ministry of the Interior on Saturday.
The program “ZDF Magazin Royale” was shown on Friday evening. Accordingly, the reports of hate comments from the Internet were not properly followed up in several federal states.
