Matthias Monroy

Iran’s motives remain nebulous. The background is probably the police murder of 16-year-old Mohammed Lamine Dramé from Senegal

Tehran is responding to EU sanctions with a list of 34 individuals and organisations from EU states against whom entry bans can be imposed or assets frozen for „supporting terrorism“ and „interfering in internal affairs“. The Dortmund police chief Gregor Lange is also on it.

As justification, Iran’s foreign ministry refers to the „murder of a Senegalese citizen by the Dortmund city police“. This probably refers to the death of 16-year-old Mohammed Lamine Dramé, who was pepper-sprayed, tasered and finally shot with a machine gun by 12 police officers last August in an exceptional psychological situation, although no violence was exerted by him.

Born in Dortmund, Gregor Lange, a jurist, came to the top of the police force in 2014 via the Ministry of the Interior in North Rhine-Westphalia; before that, he was involved in monitoring political extremism at the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Today, according to his own statement, he primarily wants to fight right-wing extremism. Lange also chairs the working group of Germany’s police chiefs, which deals with internal security issues.

How Lange ended up in Iran’s crosshairs remains a matter of speculation. „Tehran and Dakar have good relations,“ Iran’s president assured his counterpart in Senegal in June. These should be „raised to an appropriate level“.

Following Dramé’s death, Lange has transferred four police officers involved in the operation to internal service and suspended one – but the police in the northern city, where the murder occurred, enjoy a high level of trust, the police chief said. Lange would not comment on his listing. „The State Protection Service has been informed, however,“ a spokesperson said.

Published in German in „nd“.

Image: Mohammed Lamine Dramé (Mean Streets Antifa Dortmund).