German CDU candidate attacked and racially insulted during election campaign – DW – 26.07.2024

A German political candidate was attacked and racially insulted during his campaign appearance for the state elections in Brandenburg in the northeastern city of Cottbus, police said on Friday.

Cameroon-born Adeline Abimnwi Awemo was putting up posters for her party, the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), when an attacker allegedly hit her in the neck and yelled racist insults, her party said.

“I went into politics to work with people and change things together,” Awemo said after the incident.

What do we know about the attack?

According to police, Awemo was putting up posters with her family on Thursday when she was attacked by a woman.

The woman is said to have said: “You are not human.”

Awemo was taken to hospital on Thursday evening for treatment before being discharged.

Police said an investigation had been launched against a 29-year-old suspect for assault.

Awemo, who currently sits on the local advisory board for immigration and integration, said she was not afraid and had vowed to be “the Cottbus resident who stands up for the people”.

Politicians condemn recent act of political violence

On Friday, CDU state chairman Jan Redmann announced that he would travel to Cottbus to express his support for Awemo.

“The increasing danger to people who are politically active in our country is intolerable,” he said. “All those who are driving the polarization of our society and thereby ensuring increasing brutality share responsibility for this crime.”

The CDU’s Federal Secretary General, Carsten Linnemann, said in a statement to a newspaper of the Funke Media Group that the attack on Awemo was the latest in a series of attacks on politicians and candidates.

“Hatred and violence are increasing and polarization is becoming more and more acute,” he said.

Other parties also condemned the incident, including the state top candidates of the Left Party and the Greens.

Elections will be held in Brandenburg on September 22nd.

zc/rmt (dpa, epd, AFP)