Rostock (dpa/mv) – Rostock’s chief of police, Anja Hamann, described the behavior of a 13-year-old on the sidelines of the commemorative events marking the 30th anniversary of the racist riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen as shameful. When filming a police operation on Thursday, the boy is said to have cycled into the picture and raised his right arm. “I’m glad that the measures taken immediately and the presence of the police on site led to the suspect being identified a little later,” said Hamann. Journalists informed about the incident and provided video material.
The 13-year-old is still considered not to be of criminal responsibility. The state protection of the Rostock Criminal Police Inspectorate has started investigations into the use of license plates of unconstitutional organizations. The Rostock public prosecutor’s office as well as the legal guardians would be involved. Possible backgrounds to the crime should also be investigated, said Hamann.
In August 1992, to the applause of thousands of onlookers, local residents and neo-Nazis attacked the central reception center for asylum seekers and a dormitory for Vietnamese workers and partly set them on fire. The riots are considered to be the worst racist attacks in post-war German history up to that point. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier warned of the danger of a new radicalization in Germany at a commemoration event in Rostock on Thursday.
