Extremism | 05.11.2009

Berlin outlaws city's fastest-growing neo-Nazi group

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: The German government has long tried to outlaw national socialist parties

The Interior Ministry of the city-state of Berlin has banned the right-wing organization Frontbann 24 for what it called the group's "close affinity" to National Socialism.

Politicians in Berlin are calling the ban a "step in the direction of freedom and democratic order."

Berlin police said they conducted raids on Thursday morning on several premises used by the group, finding what they termed "objects of devotion" to National Socialism.

City authorities said the group's beliefs contradicted fundamental aspects of human rights, and were a rejection of the liberal democratic system in Germany.

Frontbann 24 was launched in 2008 and is believed to consist of around 30 members, most of whom were disaffected members of the far-right National Democratic Party. The organization, which discriminates against migrants to Germany and people of Jewish faith, was considered the fastest-growing neo-Nazi grouping in the German capital.

"The prohibition of the group should be viewed against the backdrop of the conscious effort to fight right-wing extremism in Germany, and is an important step for the protection of our free democratic constitutional structure," said Berlin Interior Minister Ehrhart Koerting.

Banning means a seizure of assets and a threat of prosecution if the members meet again.

dfm/dpa/Reuters

Editor: Deanne Corbett

antigrafikon fron DW/