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NEO-NAZI

German government bans neo-Nazi group for spreading hate

Germany has outlawed a far-right neo-Nazi group called "Sturmbrigade 44" for spreading hatred, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said on Tuesday.

German government bans neo-Nazi group for spreading hate
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer. Photo: DPA

Seehofer said the group, also known as “Wolfsbrigade 44”, “sows hatred” and “advocates the re-establishment of a Nazi state”.

“Anyone who fights against the fundamental values of our liberal society will feel the determined reaction of the constitutional state,” the minister said in a statement.

Early on Tuesday, almost 200 police officers began searches of premises linked to 11 alleged members of the group in a number of regional states.

Police found weapons, including knives and crossbows, as well as propaganda items such as swastikas and Nazi flags, the interior ministry said.

Members “openly declared their support for Adolf Hitler”, the ministry said, adding that the group was “particularly characterised by militaristic appearance” and “pronounced racism” as part of an “inhuman ideology”.

In July last year, prosecutors raided apartments in several German states of members accused of being part of the group, which was founded in 2016.

Six were suspected of having formed an armed group within the organisation, authorities said at the time.

The news comes amid continued heightened tension surrounding far-right extremism in Germany.

READ ALSO: Germany to create 300 jobs to combat right-wing extremism

Last month, federal prosecutors charged 12 alleged far-right conspirators suspected of planning “terrorist attacks” on politicians, asylum-seekers and Muslims.

In February, a far-right extremist killed 10 people and wounded five others in the central German city of Hanau.

And last year, two people were killed after a neo-Nazi tried to enter a synagogue in Halle on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

The Interior Ministry has said far-right and anti-Semitic hate crime spiked in the country in 2019.

READ ALSO: After Hanau: How can Germany deal with extreme right wing terror

Seehofer already banned three other right-wing extremist groups earlier this year, “Combat 18”, “Nordadler” and the “Reichsbuerger-Vereinigung”.

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LITHUANIA

New army scandal: Germany vows to punish soldiers caught singing anti-Semitic songs

Germany's Defence Minister on Tuesday vowed to severely punish soldiers stationed in Lithuania who were accused of singing racist and anti-Semitic songs, if the allegations turned out to be true.

New army scandal: Germany vows to punish soldiers caught singing anti-Semitic songs
German soldiers training in Saxony-Anhalt in May. credit: dpa-Zentralbild | Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert

“Whatever happened is in no way acceptable,” said Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer.

Those implicated would be “vigorously prosecuted and punished”, she added.

The Spiegel Online news site had on Monday reported that German soldiers in Lithuania sang racist and anti-Semitic songs during a party at a hotel in April.

One had also sought to sexually assault another soldier while he was asleep, a scene which was caught on film, said Spiegel.

According to Spiegel Online, the scenes took place at a party at which soldiers consumed large quantities of alcohol. They are also alleged to have arranged a “birthday table” for Adolf Hitler on April 20th and to have sung songs for him.

It is unclear to what extent more senior ranked soldiers were aware of the incidents.

Three soldiers have been removed from the contingent stationed in the Baltic country and an investigation is ongoing to identify other suspects, said the report.

The German armed forces have been repeatedly rocked by allegations of right-wing extremism within their ranks.

Kramp-Karrenbauer last year ordered the partial dissolution of the KSK commando force after revelations that some of its members harboured neo-Nazi sympathies.

SEE ALSO: Germany to compensate gay soldiers who faced discrimination

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