Especially at the beginning of the year, many people in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania took to the streets against the state-imposed corona rules. They did not always comply with the law, as police statistics now reveal.
Schwerin (dpa/mv) - The number of politically motivated crimes in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania doubled in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year. According to preliminary surveys, instead of the previous 549 such crimes, 1113 were on record. On Saturday in Schwerin, the Interior Ministry cited offenses at protest events against the Corona regulations or actions in connection with the Russian attack on Ukraine as the main reason for the rapid increase.
Violations of the Assembly Act have increased almost sixfold, with 332 cases registered. Insults and property damage also increased sharply, each with 45 cases. Due to the often unclear political background of those involved, a clear classification according to right-wing, left-wing or religious groups is usually not possible. For the first half of 2022, this applies to 507 crimes. "These accounted for a total of 45.6 percent of the total number of politically motivated crimes in the reporting period," stated Interior Minister Christian Gauge (SPD).
However, according to the level, crimes with right-wing and left-wing backgrounds also increased, with politically motivated crime from the “right-wing phenomenon” again clearly predominating. Their number rose by 126 to 495 compared to the first half of 2021, with more than two thirds of the cases being propaganda crimes. The number of right-wing violent crimes doubled from 16 to 32.
90 of the cases reported between January and June were assigned to left-wing perpetrators, 40 more than in the same period of the previous year. According to the level, the focus was on damage to property in 44 cases. There were also 9 violent crimes. Of a total of 13 criminal offenses against party constituency offices, 12 were directed against right-wing populist AfD institutions.
Crimes against officials and elected officials increased from 26 to 44. According to the information, it was mainly insults, threats, defamation or hate speech.
The authorities did not register a significant increase in offenses involving the use of the Internet: a total of 83 cases were registered in the first six months of 2022, a similar number to the first half of 2021. However, the number of so-called hate postings rose to 31 doubled. "These figures show that we all have to continue to be vigilant on the Internet. The state police will continue to consistently pursue hate and hate speech on the Internet and in social networks," announced level.
According to his information, half of the registered crimes with political motivation could again be cleared up. In the case of violent crimes, however, the rate is higher at around 79 percent. A total of 770 suspects were found during the investigations in the first half of the year, three quarters of them older than 21 years.
