Magdeburg ascension riots

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The Magdeburg Ascension riots are riots in downtown Magdeburg that occurred on May 12, 1994. A group of black Africans was chased for hours through the Magdeburg city center by right-wing extremists . A total of six people were injured. A victim of the attacks, the 30-year-old Algerian Farid Boukhit, died in September 1994. The public prosecutor's office ruled out any connection with the attacks. The main focus was on the behavior of the police, which according to observers was frightening, and who intervened too late and too hesitantly against the neo-Nazis ; Eyewitnesses reported that individual officers openly expressed sympathy for the attackers.

Reports from victims

According to victim reports, the approaching police officers are said to have insulted the Africans in part and additionally provoked them with vulgar hand signals; no concrete intervention against the neo-Nazis had taken place. The right-wing extremists would have understood this as a kind of free ticket to do whatever they want. When the police finally intervened, they would have arrested the Africans in particular who had defended themselves against the right-wing extremists - the rioters themselves were largely left unmolested. In addition, there have been some complaints from Africans that they were severely ill-treated by officers when they were arrested.

Media coverage

The ascension riots immediately became a major political issue due to the intense, sometimes even international, media interest. On May 18, 1994, at the request of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, a current hour on the topic took place in the Bundestag , where in particular Gregor Gysi , the then Federal President Richard von Weizsäcker and the then Minister for Women and Youth Angela Merkel criticized the police’s approach and suggested that there would be racist attitudes within the police force as well.

Criticism and defense of the approach

The main criticism was that the few arrested rioters were released immediately after their personal details were taken and that the possibility of detention was not fully exhausted, and that Africans who had only acted in self-defense were arrested.

The then interior minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Walter Remmers (CDU), defended the immediate release of the violent perpetrators by referring to the legal situation; This states that for the application of pre-emptive detention, which enables detention for one day longer, there must be a presumption that further criminal offenses are to be feared; this did not apply after 11 p.m. on Ascension Day . However, Remmers and Magdeburg's police chief at the time, Antonius Stockmann, admitted that it had been a mistake not to notify the public prosecutor's office immediately; it only became active the day after the riots and was then no longer able to issue immediate arrest warrants. Arrest warrants were not issued until the week after the rioting.

Preliminary investigation

After the riots, a total of 15 investigations into police officers for bodily harm were initiated in the office, but all of the accused were exonerated. An officer who was initially suspended was acquitted in 1995. An appeal hearing confirmed the acquittal.

A total of 86 alleged perpetrators of the ascension riots were identified. There were eight convictions in July and August, some of them with prison terms of several years. In the state elections on June 26, 1994, which immediately followed the riots, there was a change of government, which resulted in Stockmann being transferred into temporary retirement by the new Prime Minister Reinhard Höppner (SPD) and the new Interior Minister Manfred Püchel (SPD).

In response to and reparation for their behavior, the Magdeburg police have been organizing the " Festival of Cultures " every year since 1996 , an intercultural festival that focuses on the fight against racism and xenophobia and is always well attended .

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Individual evidence

  1. ^ Taz (December 3, 1994): Consequences of the attack?