The Alternative for Germany party candidate was stabbed in the city of Mannheim, southwestern Germany, days before the European local elections.
The German news agency reported on Wednesday that the candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Heinrich Koch, was attacked yesterday evening, Tuesday, with a knife in the city of Mannheim.
Eyewitnesses told the agency that Koch was returning from a meeting when he came across three people tearing down party posters for the local and European elections, which will take place next Sunday.
While Koch was trying to prevent them from tearing down the posters, he was attacked with a knife, sending him to the hospital.
The authorities arrested one of the suspects, a 25-year-old young man, while the other two fled.
According to police, the arrested suspect was transferred to a psychiatric clinic after he “showed clear evidence of mental illness at the time of his arrest.”
Officials from the Alternative for Germany party expressed their feeling of "horror and sadness" over the incident.
Politicians condemned the attack, and the wave of violence against politicians has escalated in Germany recently.
The incident comes days after a 29-year-old policeman died from his wounds after being repeatedly stabbed while trying to intervene. Five people were also injured while participating in the march organized by the Islamophobic group “Pax Europe”.
In May, German Interior Minister Nancy Weiser pledged to combat a surge in violence against politicians after Matthias Ecke, a member of the European Parliament, was hospitalized following an attack while campaigning.
The police also announced that a Green Party activist was attacked a short time ago while hanging party posters.
Franziska Giffe, the former mayor of Berlin, was also attacked last month during an event in a library in Berlin, by a man who approached her from behind and hit her with a bag containing an unknown solid object.
It highlights the alarming rise in political violence in Germany
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