Arrest at the Frankenbad in Bonn Video examined after allegations of police violence
Bonn · Police promise a "consistent" examination of the allegations following the report of a debatable arrest at Frankenbad. The video of the incident will also be included in the investigation.
Police chief Frank Hoever reacts to the GA report about an arrest at Frankenbad, where an officer had acted in a conspicuously rough manner. The report will be submitted to the public prosecutor's office in Bonn "in a timely manner for legal assessment", the police headquarters announced on Tuesday. "Insofar as the initial suspicion of criminal conduct by the emergency services should be affirmed," the statement continued, "for reasons of objectivity, the Cologne police headquarters will investigate under the direction of the public prosecutor's office. The Bonn police will "consistently follow up on indications of possible misconduct by police officers", Hoever explained.
On 10 March, a 33-year-old drunk man attacked and kicked a 65-year-old man in the face in front of the Frankenbad at around 8.15 p.m. for no reason, according to police. The GA has a video of his later arrest. It shows how a police officer pulls the 33-year-old to the ground and kneels on his head, although the man does not resist in this scene. Later, the man is sitting on the ground with his hands tied and is again taken to the ground by the police officer. The officer puts his knee on the man's skull a second time. He also gives him a blow to the head.
Hoever on Tuesday criticised that the GA had so far not made the witness video available to the police. On the basis of "the files, in which the police coercive measures were documented in detail", there were no indications of unlawful police action. However, the GA editorial staff had already written to the police last week describing the decisive scenes from the video.
Now that the GA informant has given his consent, and after the legal department of the media house has examined the matter, the video was sent to the police headquarters on Tuesday. However, the editors will not reveal the identity of the informant in order to protect the source. Police are appealing to witnesses to the incident to call 0228/150.
(Original text: Andreas Baumann, Translation: Mareike Graepel)
