Earlier this month we reported on the strange death of Walter Lübcke, a local CDU politician in the German city of Kassel. It seemed likely that the murder was a political assassination, but it wasn’t clear who might have been responsible for it, or why it happened.
The German establishment, never one to let a crisis go to waste, has used the killing of Walter Lübcke as an opportunity to target the AfD (Alternative für Deutschland, Alternative for Germany). The two videos below present various aspects of the case as they have appeared in the media in recent days.
Many thanks to MissPiggy for the translations, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling. First, a basic account of the murder:
The second video features remarks by Gottfried Curio, a member of the Bundestag for the AfD, about the investigation of the Lübcke murder:
Video transcript #1:
| 00:03 | In mid-June, Stephan E. (45) from Kassel was arrested by special police units as being “under urgent suspicion” | |
| 00:12 | in the Walter Lübcke murder case. He has been in custody ever since. The accusation against Stephan E. | |
| 00:17 | is apparently based solely on one flake of his skin found on Lübcke’s clothes. | |
| 00:22 | However, several people have voiced their doubts about this crime being committed by the radical right or Stephan E. | |
| 00:29 | “I can’t imagine that it was Stephan. There must be higher powers in the game,” ex-undercover agent | |
| 00:35 | Benjamin G. said to the Bild Newspaper. Between 2003 and 2006, Benjamin G. was an undercover agent for | |
| 00:42 | the Hessian Office of Domestic Intelligence. Even Rainer Hahne, Lübcke’s best friend, also expresses his concerns in | |
| 00:47 | an interview with “Die Welt” that Stephan E. was the perpetrator. Hahne, is quoted saying, “the culprit was | |
| 00:53 | someone who knew Walter. He would have never let a stranger come that close, | |
| 00:59 | up onto his porch in the middle of the night.” The paramedic Florian A. was arrested one week after the crime | |
| 01:04 | by SEK at the North Sea port of Harlesiel. However, he was released a short time later, according to other media reports. | |
| 01:12 | But why was Florian A. arrested a week after the crime? Lübcke’s neighbours told Die Welt | |
| 01:18 | that the paramedic, Florian A., was wiping away the blood from the terrace. | |
| 01:23 | The “Welt” article states that this was done in order to spare the family the sight. | |
| 01:28 | However, important evidence may have been removed. Florian A., who has Bosnian roots and is said to be friends | |
| 01:35 | With Lübcke’s son, and the buyer of a “scrap property” that originally belonged to Lübcke. | |
| 01:41 | So in many respects there is the possibility that this crime may not have a right-wing radical motive. | |
| 01:46 | Instead the perpetrator could come from Lübcke’s private sphere, and a private motive | |
| 01:49 | must also be considered in Lübcke’s murder case. |
Video transcript #2:
| 00:02 | Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today we had the first briefing by the Federal government | |
| 00:05 | on preliminary findings in the investigation | |
| 00:08 | of the Walter Lübcke murder case. Present were the Minister of the Interior, | |
| 00:13 | the Attorney General and the President of the | |
| 00:18 | Federal Criminal Agency (BKA) and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. | |
| 00:22 | First, the structure of the investigative commission was explained. | |
| 00:25 | However, it is important to mention | |
| 00:28 | this case is more than a few days old. One might have expected perhaps | |
| 00:33 | to have further investigation results already | |
| 00:38 | besides the recent confession of the suspect. It can be summarised as follows: | |
| 00:44 | I differentiated between the facts related to the crime scene | |
| 00:48 | in the narrower sense and then further facts behind the scenes. | |
| 00:53 | So, the now-famous second car that drove away from the crime scene. We asked about that. | |
| 01:01 | There’s a lead that’s being examined due to the unclear witness testimony. | |
| 01:06 | It isn’t yet quite clear whether this evidence is relevant. | |
| 01:11 | Then the reports about evidence being destroyed at the crime scene | |
| 01:15 | by the friend of the son who found the murder victim. | |
| 01:19 | It was portrayed as though the crime scene did not appear to be | |
| 01:23 | an act of violence, and thus the changing of the crime scene | |
| 01:29 | and removing evidence was not perceived as such. | |
| 01:33 | We had asked whether this is credible. It’s not like a heart attack; | |
| 01:38 | there was a big puddle of blood which usually suggest something else. That remained obscure. | |
| 01:46 | The only connection to Stefan E. was found by evaluating biological | |
| 01:50 | evidence on clothing, DNA evidence. | |
| 01:53 | Was there any other DNA evidence? As we all know, | |
| 01:56 | one important question is whether there are other people involved. | |
| 01:59 | It doesn’t have to be a network. This question was initially | |
| 02:03 | left unanswered by the responsible BKA representative, | |
| 02:08 | who made a side glance at the Attorney General. The remaining remarks | |
| 02:12 | did not bring any further clarification. | |
| 02:21 | ||
| 02:25 | That’s the best way to formulate it. Any additional connections | |
| 02:29 | concerning the case remained unclear; for instance, | |
| 02:34 | whether any connections to Walter Lübcke’s recent fight | |
| 02:38 | against Mafia structures in his state had been examined. | |
| 02:42 | Any questions concerning “Combat 18” remained unclear, | |
| 02:45 | especially concerning the final assessment as to whether | |
| 02:48 | there were more recent connections. As we all know there is a photograph; | |
| 02:52 | first there was a positive identification then | |
| 02:55 | came the retraction. Yes, the alleged person identified as | |
| 02:59 | Stefan E. in the photo has now come forward and said | |
| 03:03 | that they were in the photograph, not Stefan E. Nevertheless, | |
| 03:08 | it is information. Then there’s Andreas T. — as you know, | |
| 03:13 | this is a person who has already played a dubious role in the NSU | |
| 03:17 | and has now reappeared here in this case. | |
| 03:22 | It is already quite difficult to tell who is undercover or an actual supporter | |
| 03:28 | of the NSU. Now after ten days of investigation, | |
| 03:35 | even this connection could not be properly explained. So, we dug deeper, asking more questions. | |
| 03:40 | The minister assured us that he wanted to do everything in his power to bring clarification | |
| 03:44 | to the case, perhaps releasing the file. We know that the 120-year lock | |
| 03:51 | on Stephan E.’s file isn’t operationally justifiable as source protection, but | |
| 03:58 | apparently an attempt to protect something completely different. | |
| 04:02 | The minister said he would work on it. | |
| 04:07 | We’ll follow that as it develops. And concerning the question | |
| 04:11 | of whether people whose names are on the so-called death lists, | |
| 04:15 | and whether they should be informed or not. In any case, | |
| 04:18 | up until now that wasn’t always the case, but there are many who believe | |
| 04:21 | this should be done. Here we also dug deeper. This is seen | |
| 04:25 | as a worthy initiative and supported in areas where | |
| 04:28 | Federal responsibility is concerned. That is the current status. | |
| 04:32 | That is not very much after ten days of investigation. | |
| 04:41 | Instead we now have speculation about the withdrawal | |
| 04:44 | of fundamental rights. You don’t need to wonder why | |
| 04:47 | the police don’t trust the government anymore when | |
| 04:51 | this is the first idea they come up with to fix vulnerabilities | |
| 04:54 | in the fight against extremism. Be that as it may, | |
| 04:58 | I think at the moment this is the investigators’ hour. | |
| 05:03 | It would be nice if, especially against the background | |
| 05:07 | of unresolved questions about possible networks | |
| 05:10 | in the area of right-wing terrorism, one could devote oneself to this with full intensity. | |
| 05:16 | That is why it is actually regrettable that we have an ever-increasing flow | |
| 05:20 | of potentially dangerous persons of the Islamist ideological vein and more radicalisation | |
| 05:24 | in that milieu, which ties up our forces as well. | |
| 05:27 | Be that as it may, in order to keep up to date, we have agreed | |
| 05:31 | in the Committee on Internal Affairs | |
| 05:35 | to meet again in a month’s time to review progress made and | |
| 05:41 | to shine further light onto the unanswered questions. | |
| 05:47 | Thank you. The AfD was not the target of criticism about hate postings, | |
| 05:51 | but what you may be referring to is | |
| 05:55 | the reposting of the statement from Walter Lübcke, | |
| 06:01 | that I think is well known: “You could leave the country.” | |
| 06:07 | A person close to the AfD was told by an ex CDU colleague that they should leave the CDU. | |
| 06:16 | ||
| 06:20 | Otherwise, what other people commented on under primary posting was a broad rage. | |
| 06:27 | However, we believe that the undisturbed work | |
| 06:33 | of an independent opposition parliamentary force is the best reassurance | |
| 06:39 | that criticism does not result in extra-parliamentary acts of violence or fantasies of violence. | |
| 06:47 | I believe it’s the best insurance when the parliamentary discourse is intact, | |
| 06:56 | and if the critical opposition force can do its work unhindered. | |
| 07:01 | Concerning hate postings, that of course, should be firmly condemned. | |
| 07:06 | Once again, despite all political differences | |
| 07:11 | that can occur in a fortified democracy it is absolutely unacceptable that | |
| 07:15 | this boundary is violated by attacking a person. | |
| 07:21 | This includes insulting statements about the person or | |
| 07:25 | the terrible event that has brought us together here today. | |
| 07:29 | Disputes about political directions must to take place in | |
| 07:33 | the parliamentary system. That is where they belong and | |
| 07:38 | that’s the best place for them. I think when that is permitted | |
| 07:42 | to take place in a genuine and undisturbed manner, | |
| 07:45 | I think and I hope that we would see less of what we all do not want | |
| 07:49 | to see, namely extra-parliamentary violence. |
No nitpicking intended, but Lübcke was not a politician in its own rights but a highranked civil servant appointed( with the help of his political affiliation) to lead a structure within a Land of about the size of 7-10 counties ,thus commanding ca. 1500 employees. So he was not a publically probable target.
My compassion was limited however: in a public assembly at a town he explained that people who do not share common values (topic context here: lodging of 400 culture enrichers in town) might better leave the country.To wit: he said this to a german audience!He was booed!
Breivik (who wanter to kill Gro Harlem Brundtland), Jo Cox and Lübcke. Is a pattern forming againt multi-kulti politicians ?