"This week, with the disturbing events in Chemnitz, has not been a good week for our country.

It all started with the brutal killing of an individual. A terrible crime, for which the perpetrators must be called to account. Irrespective of the nationality of the victim.

It is good that the police investigations were able to produce such quick results. I hope that the full facts surrounding the crime can now be rapidly established and the perpetrators sentenced appropriately for their crime. That is how a rule-of-law state deals with crime, and no other way is acceptable.

I was shocked by some of the events that then unfolded in Chemnitz.

Mobs, hate speech and threats of violence against people who look different or come from another country, a total lack of respect for the officers of the law – none of that has anything to do with mourning the death of an individual or with political protest. Here too, I hope to see thorough investigations. And here too, the perpetrators must be called to account."