Sasha
5th November 2009, 17:17
http://www.thelocal.de/articleImages/22515.jpg Police brutality claims follow anti-Nazi protest
Published: 12 Oct 09 10:43 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091012-22515.html
Berlin police face fresh claims of brutality in the wake of a violent neo-Nazi demonstration on Saturday in which anti-fascist counter-protesters clashed with riot police, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported Monday.
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Within hours of the protest in central Berlin, a video was posted online that showed a woman being dragged by her arm across pavement by a policeman and a man being violently thrown onto stone steps.
Observers of the demonstration told the paper the man - who they said was drunk and possibly suffering from mental illness - was later treated by paramedics from the fire brigade.
He had tried to throw a bottle and had been identified by police an hour earlier at Strausberger Platz in Friedrichshain for hurling abuse, the paper reported.
"It looks bad at first," said a police source.
But it did not show the events leading up to the man's arrest, the source said, and it was therefore impossible to assess the situation properly from these few seconds of footage.
We are checking the facts, said a police spokesman.
The police operation was also to be discussed on Monday in a Berlin state parliament interior committee meeting.
This treatment was too rough, even if the person may have been causing a disturbance, said the Greens interior policy expert, Benedikt Lux.
On the whole though, the police had had control of the situation, he said.
The incident follows the allegedly rough arrest of a left-wing demonstrator in Berlin four weeks ago. The scene, which made headlines around the country, was also filmed and posted on the Internet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CtEeAiv7Ws
Police chief Dieter Glietsch has opened an assault investigation over the incident.
Owing to the disastrous publicity over that video, Glietsch announced that individual name tags for police would be introduced in 2010. Such personal identification tags have been discussed for years.
At the moment, police attending demonstrations and riots have only a four-digit number showing on their helmets and on the back of their uniforms. However, up to 10 officers have the same number, making exact identification difficult.
The chairman of the Berlin police union, Eberhard Schnberg, defended the actions of police on Saturday, stressing that bodily force was allowed during arrests.
Punching and kicking are exercised, he said.
At such demonstrations, massive resistance by protesters was now the norm, he said.
No one lets themselves be arrested voluntarily, he said. Are we supposed to pull them by the ear?
Riot police dealt with the most violent public incidents, he said: Hooligans, drunks, biker gang members, and left and right wing extremists.
It was common for bystanders to try to obstruct arrests and even free people already in police hands, Schnberg said.
Therefore, there will continue to be an image that looks brutal and angry, he said.
The Local ([email protected])
and
http://www.thelocal.de/articleImages/23051.jpg
Berlin bans neo-Nazi group 'Frontbann 1924'
Published: 5 Nov 09 10:56 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091105-23051.html
The city of Berlins Interior Minister Erhart Krting banned a neo-Nazi group on Thursday morning, as police simultaneously raided the homes of its members, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported.
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Frontbann 24 is positioned against the constitutional order and in violation of criminal law, a statement from the Interior Ministry said, adding that the group shows an affinity to national socialism.
According to the paper, Krting has been reviewing a ban on the group for some months. It was founded with 30 members in October, 2008. Domestic intelligence agents believe the groups name draws from a pre-Nazi party group founded in 1924 also called Frontbann, which they use as a "historic example" for symbolism and group structure.
The group became a key right-wing extremist organisation after two others the Kameradschaft Tor Berlin (KTB) and the Berliner Alternative Sd-Ost (BASO) were banned in 2005, the paper reported.
Most members have a neo-Nazi history and some are believed to be prone to violence.
Krting told Der Tagesspiegel that the ban is against the background of a decisive fight against right-wing extremist efforts.
Published: 12 Oct 09 10:43 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091012-22515.html
Berlin police face fresh claims of brutality in the wake of a violent neo-Nazi demonstration on Saturday in which anti-fascist counter-protesters clashed with riot police, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported Monday.
ADVERTISING
http://s0.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif (http://ad.de.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/38dc/0/0/%2a/t;44306;0-0;0;33774002;4252-336/280;0/0/0;;%7Esscs=%3f)
Within hours of the protest in central Berlin, a video was posted online that showed a woman being dragged by her arm across pavement by a policeman and a man being violently thrown onto stone steps.
Observers of the demonstration told the paper the man - who they said was drunk and possibly suffering from mental illness - was later treated by paramedics from the fire brigade.
He had tried to throw a bottle and had been identified by police an hour earlier at Strausberger Platz in Friedrichshain for hurling abuse, the paper reported.
"It looks bad at first," said a police source.
But it did not show the events leading up to the man's arrest, the source said, and it was therefore impossible to assess the situation properly from these few seconds of footage.
We are checking the facts, said a police spokesman.
The police operation was also to be discussed on Monday in a Berlin state parliament interior committee meeting.
This treatment was too rough, even if the person may have been causing a disturbance, said the Greens interior policy expert, Benedikt Lux.
On the whole though, the police had had control of the situation, he said.
The incident follows the allegedly rough arrest of a left-wing demonstrator in Berlin four weeks ago. The scene, which made headlines around the country, was also filmed and posted on the Internet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CtEeAiv7Ws
Police chief Dieter Glietsch has opened an assault investigation over the incident.
Owing to the disastrous publicity over that video, Glietsch announced that individual name tags for police would be introduced in 2010. Such personal identification tags have been discussed for years.
At the moment, police attending demonstrations and riots have only a four-digit number showing on their helmets and on the back of their uniforms. However, up to 10 officers have the same number, making exact identification difficult.
The chairman of the Berlin police union, Eberhard Schnberg, defended the actions of police on Saturday, stressing that bodily force was allowed during arrests.
Punching and kicking are exercised, he said.
At such demonstrations, massive resistance by protesters was now the norm, he said.
No one lets themselves be arrested voluntarily, he said. Are we supposed to pull them by the ear?
Riot police dealt with the most violent public incidents, he said: Hooligans, drunks, biker gang members, and left and right wing extremists.
It was common for bystanders to try to obstruct arrests and even free people already in police hands, Schnberg said.
Therefore, there will continue to be an image that looks brutal and angry, he said.
The Local ([email protected])
and
http://www.thelocal.de/articleImages/23051.jpg
Berlin bans neo-Nazi group 'Frontbann 1924'
Published: 5 Nov 09 10:56 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/society/20091105-23051.html
The city of Berlins Interior Minister Erhart Krting banned a neo-Nazi group on Thursday morning, as police simultaneously raided the homes of its members, daily Der Tagesspiegel reported.
ADVERTISING
http://s0.2mdn.net/viewad/817-grey.gif (http://ad.de.doubleclick.net/click;h=v8/38dc/0/0/%2a/t;44306;0-0;0;33774002;4252-336/280;0/0/0;;%7Esscs=%3f)
Frontbann 24 is positioned against the constitutional order and in violation of criminal law, a statement from the Interior Ministry said, adding that the group shows an affinity to national socialism.
According to the paper, Krting has been reviewing a ban on the group for some months. It was founded with 30 members in October, 2008. Domestic intelligence agents believe the groups name draws from a pre-Nazi party group founded in 1924 also called Frontbann, which they use as a "historic example" for symbolism and group structure.
The group became a key right-wing extremist organisation after two others the Kameradschaft Tor Berlin (KTB) and the Berliner Alternative Sd-Ost (BASO) were banned in 2005, the paper reported.
Most members have a neo-Nazi history and some are believed to be prone to violence.
Krting told Der Tagesspiegel that the ban is against the background of a decisive fight against right-wing extremist efforts.