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German neo-Nazi 'youth camp' shut down

Far-right National Democratic Party's attempt to set up training center for neo-Nazi youth crushed by Lower Saxony court. Standoff between German commando team, NDP ends eventless

A recent effort by one of Germany's Holocaust deniers to set up a neo-Nazi "youth camp" in a rural hotel has been thwarted by a court decision to have the neo-Nazis thrown out, Ynet learned Thursday

 

According to a report in the British Daily Telegraph, the court in Lower Saxony cleared the way for the debt-ridden hotel's receiver to evict the neo-Nazis, who had been occupying the premises amid a tense standoff with police and local anti-Nazi protesters.

 

Hours before the ruling, German commando forces raided the hotel after hearing what was believed to be gunshots.

 

The police found several fake firearms, a concealable truncheon and pepper spray. Twelve neo-Nazis were on the premises, four of whom were minors and were handed over to youth services.

 

Late on Tuesday, the eight remaining neo-Nazis, masked and hooded, left the premises of their own accord after police moved in, a police spokesman said.

 

The report also said that one day before the hotel went into receivership, the owners had signed a 10-year lease with Jürgen Rieger, a Hamburg lawyer, holocaust denier and senior member of the far-right National Democratic Party.

 

When the receiver, Jens Wilhelm, tried to order Rieger's supporters off the premises in mid-July, a group of them stormed the building and refused to leave.

 

Shots were fired during the volatile standoff that ensued and police confiscated weapons from the Nazis and from leftist counter-demonstrators.

 

Rieger, who has a lengthy criminal record for Holocaust denial as well as other crimes, sparked controversy in Germany with his plan to open the training center, which evoked painful memories of the "Hitler Youth" during the time of the Third Reich.

 

The court decision came as the far-right Collegium Humanum organization prepared to appeal to the federal court to have its ban overturned.

 

Germany's Interior Ministry outlawed the 46-year-old group last year on the grounds that it opposed the German constitution, denied the Holocaust and glorified National Socialism.

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.06.09, 07:49
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