Spy chief contradicts Merkel’s claims over anti-migrant protests

THE head of Germany’s domestic intelligence service set off a major political row yesterday when he directly contradicted Angela Merkel over last week’s far-right protests in Chemnitz.

Hans-georg Maassen said he had seen no evidence to support claims that neo-nazis had hunted foreigners through the streets during the protests.

That put him at odds with Mrs Merkel, the German chancellor, who spoke of video footage clearly showing “targeted harassment” and “hate on the streets” of the city in Saxony.

Film which appears to show nongermans being attacked during the protests has been widely circulated on social media. But Mr Maassen said he believed the video could be a fake distributed as “targeted misinformation”.

A spokesman for Mrs Merkel said the intelligence chief had not shared his doubts with her and that she had nothing further to add.

Senior politicians from Mrs Merkel’s main coalition partner and opposition parties accused Mr Maassen of interfering in politics by speaking out in public, and called for his resignation.

The row centres on what exactly happened during demonstrations over the killing of a German-cuban man last week, in which two migrants are suspects. Neo-nazis were filmed giving the Hitler salute during the protests and witnesses claimed people of nongerman appearance were chased through the streets.

“We have video footage showing very clearly there was targeted harassment, there was rioting, there was hate on the streets,” Mrs Merkel said at the time, while Steffen Seibert, her spokesman, used the word “hunt” to describe what happened.

But Michael Kretschmer, the prime minister of Saxony, disputed those

‘We saw pictures, we heard witnesses. We saw people showing the Hitler salute’

accounts this week and accused the media of exaggerating events.

“There was no mob, no hunt and no pogrom,” he said.

“I share the scepticism about the media reports of far-right hunts in Chemnitz,” Mr Maassen told Bild newspaper. “There is no reliable information that such hunts took place.”

Footage of the alleged incidents has been widely shared and shown on German television.

However, Mr Maassen said: “There is no evidence the video circulating on the internet is authentic … there are good reasons to believe it is targeted misinformation intended to distract the public from the murder in Chemnitz.”

The interior ministry also said that Mr Maassen had made no official report over his doubts.

Mrs Merkel’s spokesman said the chancellor had not spoken to Mr Maassen in recent days, and that she had nothing to add.

But the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Mrs Merkel’s main coalition partner, reacted furiously.

“We saw pictures, we heard witnesses. We saw people showing the Hitler salute openly on the street,” Thomas Oppermann, the deputy speaker of parliament, said.

Mr Maassen’s job is “to protect the constitution, not the far-right”, Ralf Stegner, a senior SPD MP said, adding: “I don’t think he can remain in office”.

The opposition Greens and the Left Party also called for Mr Maassen’s resignation. Katja Kipping, the Left Party leader, accused him of being a supporter of the nationalist Alternative for Germany (AFD) party.

But Horst Seehofer, the interior minister who is locked in a bitter dispute with Mrs Merkel over migrant policy, backed Mr Maassen and said the intelligence chief had his “full confidence”.