Publication Date:
April 2022
Key findings:
- Another negative record: With 83 physical assaults against media professionals, the year 2021 exceeds the record previously set in 2020 (69 attacks).
- Crime scene demonstrations: 75% of all cases occurred at protests against COVID-19 containment measures.
- Hate is moving westward: Although Saxony remains the negative leader with 23 cases, attacks in Western Germany are increasing significantly.
- Wide-ranging political classification: 39% of the assaults in 2021 were from the right-wing, 1% from the left-wing, and 60% could not be clearly attributed.
- A worrying development: Journalists are increasingly withdrawing from from reporting on protests.
- Winter of violence: 19 cases in December 2021, 18 cases in January 2022 – never before have so many cases been recorded within two months.
- Overall view 2015-2021: ECPMF documented 265 cases.
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