G20 police raids across Germany

German police launched a series of raids on Tuesday against people suspected of rioting during the July G20 meeting in Hamburg.

The investigative criminal police forces (LKA) in several states raided 25 properties across Germany, police said. The raids took place in the states of Hamburg, Berlin, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Rhineland-Palatinate and Lower Saxony.

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The raids were carried out under the auspices of a 170-member special commission that was formed in July after chaotic and violent scenes at the G20 by the so-called "Black Bloc" in Hamburg's district of Bahrenfeld. Investigators have spent the past six months combing through thousands of videos, images and surveillance images taken during the meetings.

Police actions on Tuesday involved 583 officers and targeted 22 different suspects.

Radical left targeted

In Hamburg, one of the raids reportedly targeted Deniz Ergün, a leader of the Roter Aufbau - a radical leftwing, anti-imperialist group that was implicated in the riots. Police confirmed that two of its targets were known gathering points for left wing radicals.

Oolice investigator Jan Hieber insisted they were making a distinction between the tens of thousands of people who demonstrated lawfully and those who planned criminal acts to disrupt the events.

Police said they had opened 678 investigations into people involved in July's incidents, 372 of which are known by name and 306 not yet identified. Some 113 police officers accused of misconduct in the G20 missions are also being investigated.

The raids were reportedly aimed at seizing evidence to be used in prosecution of suspected rioters.

aw/msh (AFP, dpa)