How German police officers anonymously threatened a German-Turkish lawyer

A successful German-Turkish lawyer Seda Basay-Yildiz received athreatening fax with the headline ‘NSU 2.0’ - a reference to the German neo-Nazi terror group National Socialist Underground (NSU), responsible for the murder of nine civilians and one policewoman.

Basay-Yildiz was thrust into the spotlight in Germany two years ago during the case of Sami Ben Mohamed A., who was accused of being the personal bodyguard of Osama bin Laden.

Basay-Yildiz defended the right of Sami A. to remain In Germany and not be deported to his home country of Tunisia. Sami A. was sent back nonetheless, but the federal court of North Rhine-Westphalia decided the ruling needed to be revised following his deportation - due to the legal work of Basay-Yildiz.

However, even though Sami A. could not re-enter Germany for other reasons, he was awarded a compensation of €10,000 ($11,600) from the responsible authorities.

A successful lawyer from Frankfurt, Basay-Yildiz found herself featured in the German press and suffered numerous cases of harassment through social media for her work.

She had to read messages and comments on her Facebook profile such as: “Aren't you ashamed? You're defending terrorists who reject the state that gave you the chance to obtain your law degree.” 

She also received mail including comments such as: “She has to be deported immediately along with her clients,” and “in the realm of camel milk and urine drinkers you would be better off.”

She became a hated figure despite defending the order of law in Germany.

The anonymous fax message

On August 2 2018, Basay-Yildiz received a fax message without a specified sender.

The title of the message: NSU 2.0

It read: “In retaliation for the €10,000 compensation we will slaughter your daughter," followed by her daughter's first name.

The fax also included her personal address.

This is private information to which only local residents’ registration offices have access to.

The message concluded with the comment: "Bad Turk pig! You don't finish Germany. You better f*** off while you still get out of here alive, you pig!"

When an investigation by the intelligence services identified the senders of the message, they came across their own people. Four policemen and one policewoman have been suspended from duty so far.

The investigation found Whatsapp chat messages containing racist content on the private data of the pólice officers and the case is ongoing.

Right-wing infiltration in the German police

There have been other similar right-wing extremist and racist chat messages in the ranks of the police.

In October, a former police student in the federal state of Saxony spoke out over chat group comments made by colleagues including: "We are from Cottbus, and not from Ghana, we hate all Africans".

A federal police officer was also suspended in September, who he gave himself the code name Uwe Boehnhardt during an official state visit by the president of Turkey to Berlin.

Uwe Boehnhardt was one of the NSU terrorists who was involved in murder and bank robbery.

The case of Basay-Yildiz is a direct threat to a lawyer by police forces misusing their office to access privileged information and threaten a German citizen with death.

The NSU’s controversy is still ongoing, although the case has been closed by court. From document shredding by German secret service officials, to the random deaths of witnesses, the NSU case will always remain its own secret.

Basay-Yildiz now needs to live in caution. Intelligence security service officers told her to warn her daughter’s nursery school and to avoid going to events where many people gather.

Of the measures taken, more precautions can certainly be taken to ensure her safety, and that of her young daughter.