Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has sharply criticized the alleged attack on a reporter from the “Ostthüringer Zeitung” by the mayor of Bad Lobenstein. “Fear, intimidation and violence must never be used as a means of confrontation,” Faeser told the newspapers of the Funke media group (Tuesday). “The violent attack in Bad Lobenstein must be fully clarified.”
Without a free and critical media there is no democracy, Faeser added. This applies at all levels, “especially on site in local reporting, where you meet directly every day,” said the minister. Journalists must be able to do their work freely and unhindered at all times.
Apparently there was a physical altercation between the mayor of Lobenstein, Thomas Weigelt (independent), and a reporter from the “Ostthüringer Zeitung”. The mayor denied attacking the journalist on Monday. According to a statement by the mayor, he did not touch the editor of the “Ostthüringer Zeitung” (OTZ). According to the newspaper, Weigelt suddenly “pounced” on the reporter during a market festival. The reporter was injured and his equipment damaged.
Weigelt refuses to resign. “I am against any prejudice,” Weigelt told the German Press Agency on Tuesday.
According to a report by the “OTZ”, which belongs to the Funke media group, the background is research by the reporter about a reception given by the mayor and the invitation of a member of the “Reichsbürger” scene. After a complaint of bodily harm and damage to property against Weigelt, the criminal police are investigating him.