After attack, former Berlin mayor calls for end to political violence
After being attacked at a library, Berlin's former mayor and top Social Democratic politician has called for greater respect and an end to political violence in Germany.
The assault on Franziska Giffey on Tuesday afternoon is part of a string of attacks aimed at politicians across the country in recent days that have prompted outrage and fears about damage to the country's democratic norms.
"After the initial shock, I can say I'm fine," Giffey, who currently serves as the city of Berlin's economy minister, said on Wednesday.
But in an Instagram post, Giffey said that the string of attacks on politicians cannot be justified.
"We live in a free and democratic country in which everyone is free to express their opinion," Giffey said in a post to Instagram on Wednesday. "And yet there is a clear limit. And that is violence against people who hold a different opinion, for whatever reason, in whatever form."
"They are a transgression of boundaries that we as a society must resolutely oppose," she wrote.
A Green Party politician was attacked in Dresden on Tuesday evening while hanging political posters. On Friday, also in Dresden, a Social Democratic candidate for the European Parliament was brutally beaten by four assailants.
Giffey, Berlins' top economic official, was injured on Tuesday after a man suddenly attacked her "from behind with a bag filled with hard contents and hit her on the head and neck," according to Berlin police and local prosecutors.
The attack occurred at a library in the Rudow district of Berlin. Giffey "briefly went to hospital for outpatient treatment for head and neck pain," police said.
Police announced on Wednesday morning that they had identified a suspect in the attack, but have not released further information or commented on the attacker's suspected motives.
Giffey's spokesman said the Social Democrat plans to resume her work and would attend an event to promote renewable solar energy at the Futurium museum in the morning.
In her post on social media, Giffey urged people to stand up to defend non-violent debate and democratic values.
"I hope that we all pay more attention to how we treat each other, that respect and appreciation are given more value again and that we work together to promote dialog, good compromises and the diversity of different perspectives on the world," she said.
