German police under fire after far right attack

A bungled police response to a brutal neo-Nazi attack on a troupe of actors in eastern Germany has shocked the country and raised questions about the effectiveness of the police in fighting far-right crime.
Officers in the city of Halberstadt have admitted they made mistakes after the attack early on Saturday which left the victims with broken noses and teeth and bruised ribs.
The assault on the 14 actors, who were going to a pub to celebrate their premiere of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, comes as worries mount about the rise in far-right crime in Germany, more than 60 years after the end of Hitler's Nazi regime.
"Someone could be dead. If someone is lying unconscious on the ground and getting their head kicked in with heavy boots, I would say that is attempted murder," Halberstadt theatre director Andre Bruecker told German DLF radio. Politicians have condemned the attack, and the spotlight is turning on the police, accused by victims of being slow to respond.
The police acknowledge they failed to arrest one of the main assailants even though he returned to the scene while the victims were being questioned. The 22-year-old has since been arrested but police are still searching for other suspects. "Several mistakes were made," said Christiane Marschalk of the Halberstadt police. "The main culprit, who is known, should have been arrested."
Groups which work with crime victims have long said the country's right-wing culture is institutionalised and criticise police and prosecutors for being slow to bring cases to court.
"For many police officers, right-wing extremism is a red rag for quite simple reasons. They have to put down these attacks as crimes relating to state security. That means a huge amount of bureaucracy. Many don't want to do that," said Karl-Georg Ohse, who helps victims of far-right crime. He also said police were understaffed and badly equipped in some areas and unable to cope with right-wing violence.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has vowed to combat right-wing violence but critics say the 19 million euros ($25 million) a year spent on campaigns to draw young people away from radical ideology and involve them in democracy is inadequate. Right-wing violence in Germany last year reached its highest level since reunification in 1990. The Halberstadt region has had several high-profile crimes, including the burning of the diary of Holocaust victim Anne Frank last July.
"In light of these events it is natural that people will ask themselves whether they want to live in a place where this kind of thing happens," said theatre director Bruecker, who is thinking of staging a play about the attack.