Authorities Hide Asylum Seeker Rape During Election Campaign
German authorities withheld information for three weeks about a rape by a rejected asylum seeker in Friedland, revealing it only after media inquiries despite arresting the suspect within a day.
The attack occurred in broad daylight when the victim was walking alone. Investigators say the 24-year-old suspect overpowered the woman and dragged her behind a former restaurant, where he raped her and left her injured before fleeing the scene.
Despite the severity of the crime, police arrested the suspect just one day later on the evening of August 10th. The victim had provided such a detailed description of her attacker and his clothing that investigators quickly identified a concrete suspect. Police reportedly chose not to issue a public appeal for witnesses, claiming that doing so could have jeopardised the arrest.
The arrested man, whose asylum application had been rejected, was known to frequent the area around a local asylum accommodation facility, though he was not housed there himself. He is now in pre-trial detention on suspicion of rape.
Three-Week Information Blackout
Neither police nor prosecutors informed the public about the crime following the rapid arrest. The case only became known in early September, more than three weeks after the attack, when media outlets began making inquiries. The prosecutor’s office justified the silence by citing protection of the victim, though it remained unclear why authorities could not have reported the crime and arrest in anonymised form.
The suspect from Benin had filed a legal challenge against his rejected asylum application, meaning the proceedings are not yet concluded. Only after the legal process is complete will a decision be made about possible deportation.
Suppression During Election Campaign
The suppression of information takes on particular significance given the timing. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania goes to the polls on September 20th in a state parliamentary election where migration and internal security are central campaign issues.
A recent Forsa poll shows the AfD leading with 37 percent, well ahead of state premier Manuela Schwesig’s SPD at 28 percent. The authorities’ silence about an alleged rape by a rejected asylum seeker fell precisely during the decisive phase of the election campaign.
The incident raises serious questions about transparency and whether political considerations influenced the decision to withhold information about migrant crime from voters during a critical democratic exercise.
With information from Junge Freiheit
