Mathias Ecke was attacked while hanging election posters. Four unidentified men beat him. His party members said that he needs surgery.
German MEP Matthias Ecke (SPD) was attacked and seriously injured while putting up posters in the Streisen district of Dresden. Police announced on Saturday that four unidentified men beat up a 41-year-old man while he was putting up election posters for the SPD on Friday evening. He had to seek medical treatment at the hospital.
According to SPD Saxony, their main candidate in the European elections is Matthias Ekke. So the politician needs surgery. Attempts at intimidation, poster destruction and desecration from other poster groups also took place.
“False Warning Sign”
SPD federal leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil strongly condemned the attack on the Saxon MEP. “This insidious attack affects our entire party. “This is an attack on all election campaigners who passionately support our democracy and the rule of law,” it said in a statement on Saturday. “Criminals want to intimidate us as representatives of a democratic society. But they never succeed.
The attack was “a clear warning signal to all people in this country,” state party leaders Henning Hohmann and Kathryn Michael said in a statement. “The series of attacks by thugs on poster groups of democratic parties is an attack on the foundations of our democracy. The democrats’ violent actions and intimidation are the fascists’ means.” But Homann and Michael insisted that the SPD could not be silenced.
Green campaign workers were also attacked
German Interior Minister Nancy Fasser also strongly condemned the attack on MEP Ecke. “If the politically motivated attack on MEP Matthias Eke weeks before the European elections is confirmed, this extreme act of violence is a serious attack on democracy,” Pfizer said on Saturday. “We are experiencing a new dimension of anti-democratic violence here.”
Minutes earlier, according to police, a group of four attacked a 28-year-old Green Party campaign worker while he was putting up posters. The accused beat and kicked him and a 28-year-old youth was also injured. Based on matching personal descriptions and proximity in time and location, state security investigators believe the perpetrators in both cases are the same. (APA/dpa/Reuters)
