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A FAR-RIGHT protester who blocked a German TV crew from filming a protest against Chancellor Angela Merkel in Dresden has been exposed as an off-duty police employee.
The demonstration was organised by the far-right Alternative for Germany party and the anti-Islam Pegida movement when Ms Merkel visited the eastern city last week.
They chanted nazi-era slogans about the “lying press” and tried to block journalists from filming.
A man confronted a crew from public broadcasters ZDF and said: “Stop filming me. You’re pointing the camera straight at me, you're committing a crime.”
Police subsequently held the journalists for 45 minutes after the man complained.
Justice Minister Katarina Barley described the revelations as “alarming” and called for an urgent investigation by the Saxony authorities.
Broadcaster ZDF accused the police of acting as Pegida’s “executive” by blocking the filming and said it was a clear restriction of press freedom.
A statement by the Saxony state interior ministry said its employee had taken part in the protest in a private capacity while on leave.
