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MUNICH (Reuters) – The head of the German intelligence agency is to explain why he has questioned the authenticity of videos showing right-wing gangs harassing migrants in an eastern city, the minister said on Monday. of the Interior, Horst Seehofer.
PHOTO: Hans-Georg Maassen, head of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt fuer Verfassungsschutz), at a press conference to present the agency's 2015 report on threats to the constitution in Berlin , June 28, 2016 REUTERS / Fabrizio Bensch / Photo file
BfV leader Hans-Georg Maassen was called out of the political spectrum after saying he did not know if the images posted online showing skinheads chasing foreigners in Chemnitz were genuine.
Violent demonstrations in the city last month by far-right groups about the fatal knife wound of a German man accused of two migrants have deepened deep social divisions revealed by the decision of Chancellor Angela Merkel in 2015 to accommodate more than one million refugees Middle East.
Seehofer is head of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party, which is based in Bavaria and is generally well placed on many issues, like its partner, Merkel's Christian Democrat (CDU).
He was criticized for stating that he would have participated in the demonstrations in Chemnitz, but not with far right groups.
But on Monday, he took a more conciliatory line.
"We are waiting to see what he has to report to us," he told reporters as to whether Maassen could remain BfV leader. "Everything else will be treated then."
Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Andrea Nahles, whose center-left party is associated with Merkel's coalition government, said Maassen should explain why he denied innocent people last week. Chemnitz.
"If he's unable to do that, then he's no longer viable until he stays in his job," said Nahles.
"BEHAVE REASONABLY"
Mr Seehofer called for caution when arresting two Afghans following the death of a German weekend in the town of Koethen, in the east of the country, where people protesters of the far right and left manifested.
"We must do everything possible to overcome what is happening in our country: terrible anti-Semitic incidents, radicalism on the extreme right, but also crimes committed by migrants," said Mr Seehofer.
Anne-Marie Keding, Minister of Justice of Saxony-Anhalt where Koethen is, said that an initial autopsy had shown that the 22-year-old man had died of heart disease.
The BfV presented its report on the events of Chemnitz to Seehofer and Merkel.
Merkel blamed the Prime Minister of Saxony, the state where Chemnitz is located, for stating that no group of hunters had chased the migrants into the city, where a Jewish restaurant had also been attacked.
Seehofer noted the comments of the Prime Minister of Saxony, and said that the police and the head of the spy agency had come to the same conclusion.
"The second thing is the veracity of the videos. Mr. Maassen said he doubted that the videos are real. There must be reasons to come to this conclusion, "said the minister.
Additional report by Thomas Escritt and Thomas Seythal in Berlin; Written by Joseph Nasr; edited by John Stonestreet and Ed Osmond
