Karamba Diaby’s announcement he wants to spend time with family comes after bullet and arson attacks on his office

The first African-born MP to enter the German parliament has announced he will not be standing in next year’s federal election, weeks after he revealed the hate mail, including racist slurs and death threats, he and his staff had received.

Karamba Diaby, 62, who entered the Bundestag in 2013 in a moment hailed as historic by equality campaigners, said he wanted to spend more time with his family and to make room for younger politicians.

Diaby said the racist slurs and death threats were “not the main reasons” for his decision, having frequently emphasised he would not be cowed by threats. But they are widely believed they have played a part.

He has increasingly faced racist abuse in recent years. His constituency office in Halle, Saxony Anhalt, has been an arson target, and has had bullets fired through the window. Some staff have faced blackmail attempts to stop them working for him and have been subjected to and threats, Diaby said.

  • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.worldEnglish
    525·
    6 months ago

    His constituency office in Halle, Saxony Anhalt, has been an arson target, and has had bullets fired through the window.

    Weird that this doesn’t come up until the 10th paragraph of the article.

      • HomerianSymphony@lemmy.worldEnglish
        136·
        6 months ago

        That means an editor decided to draw attention to it. The journalist still buried it deep in the article.

      • zaphod@sopuli.xyzEnglish
        3·
        6 months ago

        For context the shots fired on his office were in 2020 and the arson was last year, while that is awful I wouldn’t try to frame them too much as the cause for his retirement.