Four teenagers, aged between 17 and 18, are being investigated for the attack on Matthias Ecke, according to Reuters. The German MEP and candidate for the European elections for the SPD (Social Democratic Party of Germany) was attacked last Friday, in Dresden, while posting posters. Ecke was seriously injured and underwent surgery. due to fracture of facial and orbital bones eyepiece.
According to the German newspaper Bild, on Sunday, late afternoon, one of the young people, accompanied by his mother, went to the Dresden-Süd police station and admitted to being involved in the attack. However, he did not provide further details without a lawyer present.
On Sunday night, a special unit was sent to search apartments in Dresden and Hidenau. The raid resulted in the identification of two young people and the seizure of objects related to the incident. Moments later, a fourth suspect was identified through a search warrant for his home.
The crime occurred after the suspects, presumably drunk, left an establishment. The young people remain free until their trial, Bild found.
The young people are also suspected of a previous attack on a man who, on the same street, was putting up posters for the German Green Party, which is the party with the most physical attacks suffered, according to data from the German Government. However, the incident did not have the same gravity as the act committed this Friday against Matthias Ecke.
Several German and EU leaders condemned the attack in question, as well as all political attacks that, since the 2019 European Parliament elections, have doubled in Germany, according to Reuters, according to data published by the German Government. In an interview with Rheinische PostInterior Minister Nancy Faeser promised “tough and new protection measures”, reinforcing the need for a greater police presence on the ground.
The SPD in the state of Saxony, in response to the attack, was already reinforcing security measures, namely the obligation for its members to be accompanied in groups of four or five during campaign actions. The leaders of this party blame the extreme right, in particular the Alternative for Germany (AfD), for the attacks.
