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Secret NRW Ministry Chats on Solingen Attack Released to Inquiry After Media Exposé

The logs depict a minister absent from Solingen despite aides urging immediate on-site presence.

Overview

  • Internal messages kept from investigators for about 15 months were delivered to the parliamentary committee only days after Josefine Paul resigned.
  • Regional outlets including Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Focus and Bild published the weekend-after-attack exchanges that the inquiry had not received.
  • The logs show Paul traveled to a World War II commemoration in Maillé roughly 12 hours after the attack and was largely unreachable for about 48 hours, with Interior Minister Herbert Reul unable to reach her.
  • Integration department head Asli Sevindim pressed for a visit to Solingen to show presence and support, while state secretary Lorenz Bahr cautioned that the situation was still too unclear.
  • The chats note early identification of suspect Issa al Hasan and earlier problems with a planned Dublin transfer to Bulgaria, drawing fresh criticism of the state government and its handling of the case.