A 17-year-old teenager turned himself in to German authorities, claiming to be one of the perpetrators of Friday’s violent attack on a campaigning Social Democratic MEP.
A 17-year-old teenager turned himself in to German authorities this Sunday, claiming to be one of the perpetrators of Friday’s violent attack against a Social Democratic MEP in the campaign, local authorities announced.
German police said in a statement that the young man went to the authorities in Dresden, in eastern Germany, and claimed to be “the attacker who beat the SPD politician,” the party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The attack on MEP Matthias Ecke occurred on Friday night in Dresden, when he was alone putting up posters at the start of the electoral campaign for the European elections, scheduled for June 9.
The MEP, who heads the SPD list in the Saxony region for the European elections, is not the first to attack German politicians in recent months, raising warnings about the possibility of politically motivated crime.
According to the regional police, the 41-year-old MEP was beaten by four unidentified men while putting up posters and was forced to “receive medical treatment in hospital,” added the statement cited by the French news agency France-Presse (AFP). .
Several German political officials, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, condemned the violent attack.
On Thursday night, two deputies elected by the Greens, the party that governs with the SPD, were attacked in Essen, western Germany, with one of them hit in the face, according to police.
The SPD in the state of Saxony is strengthening security measures that prevent its members from carrying out solo campaign actions from now on. They should always be in groups of four or five to be able to react to possible attacks. In addition, the police will be informed in advance about the placement of posters.
Source: Observadora
