This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The head of Germany’s domestic security agency (BfV) has been called by a parliamentary committee to explain his reasons for doubting the veracity of videos showing far-right gangs hunting down immigrants.

Hans-Georg Maaßen is to appear before an interior ministry committee on Wednesday amid widespread calls for his resignation, following an interview in which he said footage spread online following violent protests in Chemnitz may have been faked and there was no evidence that rightwing demonstrators had hounded foreigners.

On Monday, Maaßen handed over a report to the interior minister, Horst Seehofer, which reportedly laid out the course of events in Chemnitz according to the BfV chief.

In his original comments to the newspaper Bild, Maaßen appeared to directly contradict the responses of Angela Merkel and her spokesman, Steffen Seibert, to the demonstrations. Both Merkel and Seibert had referred to a hetzjagd (hounding) of foreigners.

According to some media reports, Maaßen then appeared to row back on his original comments, saying he did not consider a particular video to be false and stating that he had been misunderstood. He reportedly said he was surprised by the speed at which the media and politicians were ready to accept the video as authentic.

Maaßen, a lawyer and civil servant who has been president of the BfV for six years, was criticised for what many political figures interpreted as a deliberate attempt to wade into a potentially explosive debate.

The demonstrations in Chemnitz broke out two weeks ago after a German man was killed, allegedly by two asylum seekers from Iraq and Syria who are being held in police custody. Among a large group of far-right demonstrators were some who made illegal Hitler salutes and chased foreigners through the streets, injuring some, as well as threatening police officers and journalists.

The events in the eastern city have shaken Germany, triggering fears of a resurgent far right after subsequent outbreaks of violence in other cities, and have reignited a row over refugee and immigration policy, which is dominating political debate and threatening to topple Merkel’s grand coalition.

Seehofer, one of the chancellor’s toughest partners in government, who has ridiculed her immigration policy, has given Maaßen his backing so far, stating on Sunday that he had his “full confidence”.

His ministry said on Tuesday that it was still studying Maaßen’s report.

The BfV president is due to face tough questioning at the meeting of the parliamentary oversight panel (PKGr), which supervises the intelligence services, as well as an extraordinary meeting of the interior committee in the Bundestag.

The newspaper De Welt said: “It will be an uncomfortable day for the head of the office for the protection of the constitution.”

Christian Lindner, the leader of the pro-business opposition Free Democratic party, said Maaßen would be urged by committee members to “call a spade a spade”.

“Either he succeeds in clearing up any doubt surrounding his leadership and communication, or he behaved negligently, in which case he would no longer be viewed as a trustworthy protector of our constitution,” he told the newspaper Passauer Neue Presse.

Armin Laschet, the Christian Democrat minister president of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said it would be up to the federal government to decide on Maaßen’s future. In an interview, he criticised the BfV president for stepping outside his role of responsibility.

“Protectors of the constitution should be observing enemies of the constitution and not giving interviews to the Bild newspaper,” Laschet said.

Since the events in Chemnitz, there have been further outbreaks of far-right violence in Köthen and Halle.

In the former, unrest followed the death of 22-year-old man at the weekend after an apparent row with two Afghans, who have been arrested.

On Monday night In Halle, about 450 far-right demonstrators gathered, some of whom spat at police and shouted the Nazi greeting sieg heil or raised their arms in a Hitler salute. Police said several arrests were made.