Germany Cracks Down on Far Right With Arrests and Trial

Source: New York Times

APRIL 19, 2016

BERLIN — The German authorities moved against right-wing groups on two fronts on Tuesday, with an early-morning raid that led to the arrest of five people suspected of attacks on refugee shelters and the opening of a trial of the leader of an anti-immigrant group.

The raid in the eastern state of Saxony led to the detention of four men and one woman who are under investigation in connection with the attacks on refugee shelters in and around Dresden, where weekly demonstrations against immigrants have been held since late 2014.

Two hundred police officers, including members of elite anti-terrorist units, conducted searches at several homes and unidentified properties in the state, federal prosecutors said.

Later in the morning, Lutz Bachmann, a co-leader of the movement that organized the demonstrations, Pegida, went on trial in Dresden, the capital of Saxony. He faces charges of incitement for calling refugees “cattle,” brutes” and “trash.”


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/20/world/europe/lutz-bachmann-pegida-trial-germany-anti-immigrant-arrests.html?_r=0