Several Pro-Migrant German Politicians Receive Death Threats - Reports

Several German politicians, including Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker and Altena Mayor Andreas Hollstein, both known for their support for migrants, have received death threats, media reported on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th June, 2019) Several German politicians, including Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker and Altena Mayor Andreas Hollstein, both known for their support for migrants, have received death threats, media reported on Thursday.

According to the Koelner Stadt Anzeiger newspaper, the author of anonymous e-mails threatened to "execute" Reker, Hollstein and other politicians in 2020 if he does not receive 100 million Euros ($113 million) in Bitcoins by the end of August. He warns of "purges" that began with the assassination of Kassel Mayor Walter Luebcke.

The German police is now investigating the issue.

The Bild tabloid has also reported that police officers in the Federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern found during a search a list with Names of 29 citizens, including municipal politicians, some of whom had received death threats.

Both Reker and Hollstein have been attacked before. In October 2015, during the election campaign, Reker was stabbed by a right-wing extremist, receiving serious injuries. In November 2017, an attacker stabbed Hollstein in the neck, as a result of which the politician was hospitalized. Investigators proceeded from the fact that the attacker had political motives.

The 65-year-old Luebcke died from a gunshot wound to the head in his own garden in early June. The police of the federal state of Hesse said that it was a murder. The German police arrested a 45-year-old suspect last week. The investigators believe that the right-wing extremist views of the suspect were the motive for the crime, and the killing was political in its nature.