By Meletus EZE
Two counter terrorism Officers on the staff of the Berlin Police are under suspicion of using jargon associated with neo-Nazis in their digital communications, according to press reports on Thursday.
In one text message, a detective communicated with his superior using the figures 88, which are taken to stand for the eighth letter of the alphabet and thus to refer to HH – or Hail Hitler.
The Nazi greeting is banned in Germany.
In a second message, the detective called on his superior to keep away from “Merkel & Co and her stupid do-gooders,’’ using the German term “Gut-Menschen” which is understood ironically and refers to attitudes seen as overly politically correct.
Three German news outlets, the Berliner Morgenpost daily and public broadcasters ARD and NDR, reported the details on the basis of an internal police memo that had been passed to them.
Berlin police confirmed that the two men were under investigation.
The messages dated between Dec. 31, 2016, and Jan. 20, 2017.
According to the news reports, disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the officers in June 2017, with the detective sending the messages being handed a reprimand.
Proceedings against his superior are still underway.
The police unit, that the two officers were detailed to, was responsible for monitoring Anis Amri, the radicals who carried out the truck attack on the Berlin Christmas market on Dec. 19, 2016.
