Claudia von Gélieu testified as a witness and reproached the police. Here speaking at a demonstration in front of the Berlin House of Representatives Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
By Stephen Peter
Are the authorities torpedoing the work of the House of Representatives? A committee of inquiry is supposed to clarify alleged right-wing extremist attacks in Neukölln – but the delivery of files is slow!
The police and prosecutors don’t seem to see any rush. “We asked specific questions about the files, but it’s hardly ever delivered,” says Stefan Förster (41, FDP). Committee chief Florian Dörstelmann (55, SPD): “It may be that we do not receive certain documents immediately.”
The first witnesses were heard in the committee on Friday. Political scientist Claudia von Gélieu (62) has been working against right-wing extremism for years. Her car was set on fire in 2017. The police “minimized” this as damage to property, she criticized.
The members of the investigative committee at the beginning of the meeting of the investigative committee in Neukölln in the Berlin House of Representatives Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa
Her harsh accusation: an involvement of the police in right-wing extremism. “I can’t be sure about the police.” Her husband also spoke of a “lack of trust”.
For FDP politician Förster, these are “relatively massive allegations”. It is not clear “whether all this can be proven”.
His CDU colleague Stephan Standfuss (50): “It is our job as a committee to prove or refute these suspicions with facts. We have a lot of work ahead of us!”