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CRIME

Passau police chief released from hospital

Almost a week after what appears to have been a revenge attack by neo-Nazis, Passau police chief Alois Mannichl was released from the hospital on Friday.

Passau police chief released from hospital
Photo: DPA

“We can’t let ourselved be afraid of these right-wing extremists,” he said in a short statement to press where he thanked the public for its support, adding that the attempt on his life was “cowardly.”

Meanwhile, Chancellor Angela Merkel made a statement for the first time about the stabbing. “When an official of our state or other people are attacked by right-wing extremists, then the attack is on us all,” she told daily Passauer Neue Presse on Friday, adding that the threat needs to be taken seriously everywhere, not just in Passau.

Mannichl answered his front door on Saturday to a tall skinhead at around 5:30 pm. The man said something along the lines of, “Greetings from the national resistance,” and said, “You leftist pig cop, you won’t trample on the graves of our comrades any more,” before stabbing Mannichl in the stomach with a 12-centimetre knife.

He then threw the knife away in the garden and ran to a waiting car in a nearby street and was driven away. The 52-year-old police chief was seriously wounded in the attack and is now recovering from the attack.

Police this week picked up a 33-year-old man and 22-year-old woman who are suspected of helping the attacker.

Police also released a new description of the suspect, whom they believe to be part of the Bavarian neo-Nazi scene. The man is thought to be between 25 and 35 years old, approximately 1.90 metres tall, and speaks with a Bavarian accent that could possibly have an Austrian lilt.

Far-right resentment in the region against the police reached a high point this July after the authorities ordered that the grave of a former neo-Nazi functionary be opened so that a Nazi flag that had been buried with the coffin, be removed.

An email exchange received by Spiegel Online on Friday suggested that the NPD has had Mannichl in its sights for over a year. According to the magazine’s exclusive report, a Passau NPD member wrote to party headquarters for advice in dealing with Mannichl.

The reply, sent on May 16, 2007 by Frank Schwerdt, a right-hand man of NPD leader Udo Voigt, said, “If anything meaningful is to be done against your beloved police chief Mannichl, it should be very carefully prepared and executed.”

Schwerdt claimed Friday that he had been referring to the collection of facts for a possible legal case against Mannichl.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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