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Police officers injured in clashes at Frankfurt game

Around 50 officers were injured in clashes between law enforcement and supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt ahead of their game against Stuttgart on Saturday, according to local police.

Published: 26 November 2023 10:41 CET
Police officers injured in clashes at Frankfurt game
German police near the Opera Square in downtown Frankfurt on October 14, 2023. Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP.

Four of the injured officers were taken to hospital for treatment, Frankfurt police said in a statement late Saturday.

Stadium staff were also injured in the clashes in the build up to the Bundesliga game, which resulted in “several suspects” being arrested, police said.

The confrontation between police and fans began at 5:45 pm local time (1645 GMT), around 45 minutes ahead of kick-off. Supporters of Eintracht Frankfurt took issue with a police check at the entrance to the stadium usually reserved for the club’s ultras.

Police were targeted with “bottles, pyrotechnics and heavy iron bars” thrown by fans, they said.

Law enforcement responded with the use of “physical force, pepper spray and truncheons”, police said, before the arrival of reinforcements helped put an end to the clashes.

Following the confrontation, large numbers of ultras did not take their places in the stands for the beginning of the fixture in protest.

The hosts went on to lose 2-1 to Stuttgart.

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POLITICS

Germany raids properties in bribery probe aimed at AfD politician

German officials said on Thursday they had raided properties as part of a bribery probe into an MP, who media say is a far-right AfD lawmaker accused of spreading Russian propaganda.

Published: 16 May 2024 17:19 CEST
Germany raids properties in bribery probe aimed at AfD politician

The investigation targets Petr Bystron, the number-two candidate for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in next month’s European Parliament elections, Der Spiegel news outlet reported.

Police, and prosecutors in Munich, confirmed on Thursday they were conducting “a preliminary investigation against a member of the German Bundestag on the initial suspicion of bribery of elected officials and money laundering”, without giving a name.

Properties in Berlin, the southern state of Bavaria and the Spanish island of Mallorca were searched and evidence seized, they said in a statement.

About 70 police officers and 11 prosecutors were involved in the searches.

Last month, Bystron denied media reports that he was paid to spread pro-Russian views on a Moscow-financed news website, just one of several scandals that the extreme-right anti-immigration AfD is battling.

READ ALSO: How spying scandal has rocked troubled German far-right party

Bystron’s offices in the German parliament, the Bundestag, were searched after lawmakers voted to waive the immunity usually granted to MPs, his party said.

The allegations against Bystron surfaced in March when the Czech government revealed it had bust a Moscow-financed network that was using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread Russian propaganda across Europe.

Did AfD politicians receive Russian money?

Czech daily Denik N said some European politicians cooperating with the news site were paid from Russian funds, in some cases to fund their European Parliament election campaigns.

It singled out the AfD as being involved.

Denik N and Der Spiegel named Bystron and Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, as suspects in the case.

After the allegations emerged, Bystron said that he had “not accepted any money to advocate pro-Russian positions”.

Krah has denied receiving money for being interviewed by the site.

On Wednesday, the European Union agreed to impose a broadcast ban on the Voice of Europe, diplomats said.

The AfD’s popularity surged last year, when it capitalised on discontent in Germany at rising immigration and a weak economy, but it has dropped back in the face of recent scandals.

As well as the Russian propaganda allegations, the party has faced a Chinese spying controversy and accusations that it discussed the idea of mass deportations with extremists, prompting a wave of protests across Germany.

READ ALSO: Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

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