German police officers suspended for neo-Nazi content, child pornography

The German justice system has reported the discovery of Nazi symbols and child pornography in messages exchanged by police officers in a private group chat.

Five police officers, aged 22 to 25 and from three different districts, were involved in sharing the illegal content, according to the public prosecutor in charge of the investigation. 

All have been suspended from duty, while their homes were searched last week.

"Anyone who disseminates such content raises considerable doubts about their morality," said North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister of the Interior, Herbert Reul, justifying the suspension of the police officers while the investigation was carried out.  

German law strictly prohibits Holocaust denial and the dissemination of Nazi propaganda, which includes swastikas, the wearing of SS uniforms and pro-Hitler statements. 

This case is just the latest in a wider phenomenon of rising right-wing extremism and neo-Nazi ideology in the ranks of the German police and army. 

At the end of July, police in North Rhine-Westphalia reported that they had dealt with 105 incidents of right-wing extremist behavior over the past six years.