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Berlin (AFP) – German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed anger on Monday against the slogans of right-wing protesters defending the death of a German after a fight with two Afghans.
Local police and prosecutors said the 22-year-old had suffered acute heart failure after being beaten on the playgrounds in the eastern city of Koethen. Saturday night.
The extreme right mobilized a demonstration on Sunday evening that attracted 2,500 participants, including 400 to 500 known extremists, said the state authorities of Saxony-Anhalt.
The rally was presented as a mourning march, but predominantly white male groups were filmed singing "national socialism, now, now" – a reference to the Nazis' declared ideology – according to images broadcast on social media.
"At the end of the day in Koethen, a video shows open Nazi songs – which must affect us and outrage us," said Steffen Seibert, spokeswoman Merkel.
Saxony-Anhalt Minister of the Interior, Holger Stahlknecht, said several investigations had been launched for inciting hatred against speeches at the rally.
The investigators also examine the songs that were thrown at the event.
The far-right party AfD announced a new rally on Monday night, although it said in its call to the assembly that political speeches would not be made.
In a video posted online by Buzzfeed, a man from the site identified as a member of the far-right scene, David Koeckert, was seen telling the crowd that "we must defend ourselves in the race war against the German people, that's what happened here. "
"Do you want to continue bleating sheep or do you want to become wolves and destroy them in pieces?" asked the man to cheer.
The authorities said the man's death was "not directly" related to the injuries sustained during the fight.
But fears grew that the latest case could worsen anti-migrant tensions, as it comes two weeks after the attack on the death of a 35-year-old man in the eastern city of Chemnitz, which sparked xenophobic manifestations.
Two suspects – an Iraqi and a Syrian – were arrested for stabbing and a third man, also Iraqi, is wanted.
The demonstrations in Chemnitz also provoked clashes between Merkel and the head of the German intelligence agency, which cast doubt on a video purporting to "hunt down foreigners" by neo-Nazi mobs.
Merkel's spokeswoman and the Chancellor herself have repeatedly used the description to condemn the violent protests.
But the head of the spies, Hans-Georg Maassen, told the daily Bild that he had "no evidence" that the video broadcast online, which appeared to show the accosted and pursued immigrants, was genuine.
Maassen, under pressure to show evidence to support his claim, has submitted to the government a report that is being "examined", said Seibert and the Interior Ministry.
