For more than two and a half years, our Frankfurt colleague, attorney Seda Başay-Yıldız, has been receiving letters from unknown perpetrators insulting her and her family and threatening them with death. Ms. Başay-Yıldız, who will receive the Ludwig Beck Prize for Civil Courage from the city of Wiesbaden this year, became a target of these anonymous perpetrators due to her high-profile role as a co-plaintiff's representative in the NSU trial and as a defense attorney. The family's personal data contained in the threatening letters originated from a Hessian police station. Despite subsequent address blocking, our colleague continues to receive new threatening letters. We assume that the perpetrators are within the ranks of the Hessian police. The threatening letters are signed "NSU 2.0," explicitly referencing this murderous form of right-wing terrorism. Our colleague Başay-Yıldız is not the only one who has received such threatening letters. Other colleagues, journalists, politicians, artists, and activists are also receiving threatening letters signed with the abbreviation "NSU 2.0." These threats primarily target women who, in their work and in public, are committed to and speak out against racism, right-wing extremism, and sexism.
The Hessian law enforcement authorities have not yet made any progress in their investigations public. Either the investigations have been unsuccessful for years, or findings have been obtained but are being kept secret—possibly to protect the reputation of the police. Furthermore, the protection our colleague receives from the Hessian police is inadequate.
This situation is no longer tenable.
Theattacks against our colleague Başay-Yıldız are also an attack on the entire legal profession. Attacks against colleagues who are dedicated to their work are unacceptable. “We stand behind our colleague and express our solidarity with her,” explains lawyer Dr. Peer Stolle, Chairman of the Board of the Republican Lawyers Association (RAV).
“The unsuccessful investigations in the ‘NSU 2.0’ case demonstrate that we need independent investigative bodies capable of effective investigations in criminal proceedings where police officers are accused. As long as the police authorities from whose ranks suspects originate investigate their immediate colleagues, there will be no investigative successes,” explains attorney Dr. Andreas Engelmann, Federal Secretary of the Association of Democratic Lawyers (VDJ). Various organizations have been calling for such investigative bodies in connection with police misconduct and crimes for years.
Until independent investigative bodies exist for inquiries against police officers, it is essential to ensure that all legal avenues are pursued to conduct effective and independent investigations by authorities that have no connection to the police authorities from which the perpetrators come or within which close ties to the perpetrators exist.
Since the data queries related to the "NSU 2.0" case were made from police computers in various German states, we assume that the perpetrators were not a single individual, but rather a group of individuals. Whether the investigations establish initial suspicion of a criminal organization, which could give rise to the jurisdiction of the Federal Prosecutor General, is unknown to us. At the very least, given the cross-state nature of the case, the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) can and must take over the investigation.
We therefore demand:
- The entire NSU 2.0 case must be fully investigated.
- The investigations in this case are to be transferred to the Federal Criminal Police Office (Section 4 Paragraph 2 BKAG).
- The protection of our colleague Başay-Yıldız and all others affected by ›NSU 2.0‹ must be guaranteed.
Signatories:
Organizational Office of Criminal Defense Lawyers' Associations
, Republican Lawyers' Association (RAV),
Association of Democratic Lawyers (VDJ)
Contact persons:
Attorney Dr. Peer Stolle (030.44679216)
Attorney Dr. Andreas Engelmann (069.71163438)
This press release from the RAV can be found here: https://www.rav.de/publikationen/mitteilungen/mitteilung/solidaritaetserklaerung-mit-rechtsanwaeltin-seda-basay-yildiz/21d0a3a300fe96de28c419c702872e66/
