North Rhine-Westphalia: Nazi allegations: investigations against employees stopped

Hagen (dpa / lnw) - Investigations against two officials in the city of Hagen for possible use of Nazi symbols have been discontinued.

North Rhine-Westphalia: Nazi allegations: investigations against employees stopped

Hagen (dpa / lnw) - Investigations against two officials in the city of Hagen for possible use of Nazi symbols have been discontinued. A spokesman for the Hagen public prosecutor's office said on Monday that more than two dozen people had been questioned, and that computers and mobile phones had also been evaluated. The two men are said to have produced a piece of paper with Nazi symbols labeled as a "passport". The paper read "Führer Headquarters", it was provided with a swastika and imperial eagle and signed "Adolf H.".

At that time, in the middle of the pandemic, there was no public traffic. The spokesman explained that the paper had not been used publicly and had not been distributed. "Bild.de" had previously reported that there would be no criminal consequences for the two men. An execution scene in the style of the racist Ku Klux Klan secret society is said to have been staged on the desk in their office. It was about two chocolate Santa Clauses with typical white Ku Klux Klan hats, in their middle a white cross, in front of it was an unpacked - black - chocolate Santa Claus with a severed head.

Prosecutor Jörn Kleimann said the criminal offense of incitement to hatred was checked. Here, too, there is no public effectiveness, but a "closed office system" can be assumed. It is "tasteless and reprehensible" but not criminally relevant behavior. However, one of the two employees was charged with racial insults, which are said to have been directed at an Italian. The two men were released from duty at the beginning of the investigation in December 2021.