Germany has recorded the highest number of crimes against journalists and media workers in 2022 since official counting began in 2016.
The Criminal Police Information Service, which records politically motivated crimes, has reported a total of 320 offenses, the German government has said following a question from the opposition.
The figures show that the number of crimes against media workers has more than tripled in the past four years across the country, according to data obtained by the dpa agency.
According to the report, the 320 crimes include 46 violent crimes, 41 crimes of coercion and threats, 31 crimes of damage to property and 27 incitements to hatred. The rest are crimes against the prohibition of assembly and other miscellaneous offenses.
The state of Berlin ranked among the highest for the number of reported crimes against media workers.
During the demonstrations against the anti-coronavirus measures, 64 crimes against reporters were recorded, of which 15 were violent. However, the spokeswoman of the Die Linke (The Left) party, Petra Sitte, has declared to the newspaper ‘Die Welt’ that »radicalization and anti-press attitudes of certain groups will remain a problem» despite the disappearance of this type of protests, in reference to the demonstrations against the coronavirus.
Sitte also called for »a comprehensive strategy to protect press freedom, continuous reporting and better legal protection of media professionals in information legislation».
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
