First there were 159 people arrested after the New Year's Eve riots in Berlin, then 145. In the meantime, the media (including Stern) reported that only 38 people had been arrested in connection with the firecracker attacks in Berlin. The Berlin police have now published official figures on the events. "For the first time", as police spokesman Martin Halweg emphasized in an interview with the star. "The number 38 mentioned in several media was never valid and was not communicated by the Berlin police," says a written statement.
According to the now official figures, the police recorded a total of 126 criminal charges and 44 suspects on New Year's Eve (December 31, 2022, 6 p.m. to January 1, 2023, 6 a.m.). During this period, the police were attacked 46 times with pyrotechnics such as New Year's rockets or firecrackers, and the fire brigade 35 times. There were nine attacks on the police with alarm guns or tear gas and six on the fire brigade. Otherwise, resistance to emergency services (36 criminal charges) and damage to property (30) also appear in the statistics.
Of the 44 suspects in the Berlin New Year's Eve riots, 43 are male. 19 of the 44 are minors, 13 more are between 18 and 25. Of all the suspects, 16 only have German and ten have German and one other citizenship. 18 suspects in the Berlin New Year's Eve riots do not have German citizenship. The Berlin police did not name the nationalities of the suspects in the statistics that have now been published.
The first results of the investigation coincide in part with previous findings. In its "Federal situation report on violence against police officers 2021", the Federal Criminal Police Office dealt with attacks on police officers, of which there were quite a few on New Year's Eve in Berlin - with clear findings: those who attack officers are mostly male, over 25 years old, already noticed by the police, drunk and German.
After the New Year's Eve riots, which were also directed against police officers, firefighters and rescue workers, a debate broke out about whether there should be an increase in punishment. However, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) had said that the main thing was to enforce the applicable law and that he "sees no need" for another change in criminal law.
