German far-right politician faces probe after accusing Cologne police of appeasing ‘barbaric, gang-raping Muslim hordes of men’ because they tweeted a new year message in Arabic
Deputy leader of German far-right party tweeted anti-Muslim post
Police in Cologne had posted a new year’s message in Arabic
Beatrix von Storch called Muslim men ‘barbaric and gang-raping’.
AfD politician may now be charged with incitement to hatred
By SARA MALM
DAILYMAIL.COM
2 January 2018
A leading German far-right politician is set to be investigated by police after she called Muslims ‘barbaric and gang-raping’.
Beatrix von Storch, deputy leader of Alternative for Germany (AfD), responded to a tweet by police in Cologne in which the force wished a Happy New Year to the public in several languages, including Arabic.
‘What the hell is going on with this country? Why is an official police site … tweeting in Arabic?’ she wrote.
‘Did you mean to placate the barbaric, Muslim, gang-raping hordes of men?’
Von Storch’s tweet appeared to reference chaotic 2015 New Year’s Eve celebrations in Cologne, which were marred by mass sex assaults on women by men of mostly North African origin.
The attacks sparked outrage across Germany amid tensions over the arrival of 1.1million refugees that year.
Von Storch’s Twitter account was suspended for 12 hours, and a similar message that she posted on Facebook was removed by the social media site.
Under Germany’s new hate speech laws, von Storch may could face charges of incitement to hatred.
When von Storch regained access to her social media account she posted that she had been ‘censored’, adding that ‘This is the end of the constitutional state.’
Her offensive tweet was posted amid an ongoing debate in Germany about how to tackle sexual assaults at events, with designated ‘safe spaces’ for women established in Berlin both during Oktoberfest and New Year’s Eve on Monday.
Yesterday, these efforts were criticized by a German police union boss, who says it implies that women are no longer safe from assault elsewhere.
Rainer Wendt, who heads the right-leaning DpolG union, said that establishing a safe zone sends a ‘devastating message’.
‘By doing so one is saying there are safe zones and unsafe zones. [For women that could result in] the end of equality, freedom of movement and self-determination,’ he told the the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung daily in an interview published Saturday.
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