Germany confirms dismissal of police chief

Matthias Seeger might have been involved in organizing a training course for the Belarusian police to disperse street rallies in 2010.

The German Interior Ministry confirms dismissal of top police officials, Deutsche Welle reports. Federal police chief Matthias Seeger was resgined and his two deputies were moved to other positions.

The dismissals were caused by a failure of trust between German interior minister  Hans-Peter Friedrich and the police leadership, media report. The minister is disappointed with leaks of compromising information to press.

“The most persistent of these is Seeger's undetermined relationship with Belarusian authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka,” Deutsche Welle reports.

BelTA news agency informed in February 2010 that the Berlin police chief offered representatives of the Belarusian Interior Minister to visit the German capital “to study the work of the criminal police and methods of securing public order during mass events”.

The Interior Ministry of Belarus declines to comment on the issue.

The German and Belarusian police have had a number of joint events in the last two years.