During a parliamentary debate concerning the budget of the Foreign Office, four members of the Left party were removed from the Bundestag plenary hall on Wednesday. The deputies had displayed a Palestinian flag during the discussion.
Bundestag Vice-President Josephine Ortleb (SPD) also initially ordered the ejection of a photographer from the press area, who had been documenting the incident as part of his journalistic duties. The photographer, accredited to the dts news agency, was present legally. The agency subsequently lodged a formal protest regarding Ortleb’s action with the Bundestag administration and directly with her office.
Ortleb later announced that deputies Lisa Schubert, Cansin Köktürk, Vinzenz Glaser and Charlotte Neuhäuser had been excluded from the remainder of the Wednesday session. The stated reason for their removal was a “serious breach of the dignity and order of this house”. The dts news agency photographer was permitted to return to his work area approximately thirty minutes after the initial removal.
