Australia on Monday made the neo-Nazi group Sonnenkrieg Division, also known as SKD, the only right-wing outfit designated by the government to be a terrorist organization.
SKD joins 26 Islamic militant groups designated under Australian criminal law as outlawed terrorist organizations.
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Members of the Atomwaffen Division of which Sonnenkrieg Division is a splinter
(Photo: Screenshot, VICE)
SKD members have been convicted in Britain for plotting to attack the British Royal amily, as well as disseminating terrorist material.
In 2019, a teenage neo-Nazi was jailed in Britain alongside another member of SKD for terrorism offenses. The individual had urged violence against Prince Harry, branding him a "race traitor" after his marriage to Meghan Markle.
Australia's Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said SKD’s listing as a terrorist organization reflected the government’s commitment to stamping out violence and extremism of all kinds, regardless of ideology or motivation.
“SKD adheres to an abhorrent, violent ideology that encourages lone-wolf terrorist actors who would seek to cause significant harm to our way of life and our country,” Dutton said in a statement.
The listing enables all available terrorist offenses and penalties to apply to SKD, including up to 25 years in prison for some offenses.
The SKD is an offshoot of the Atomwaffen Division, a leaderless movement that sprang from hate forums in the U.S. that was based on neo-Nazi terror organizations from the 1970s and 1980s.
Until Monday, Australia was the only country inside the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network — which includes the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand — not to have labeled any right-wing extremist organization as terrorists.