- Title: NPD and German politicians react to rejection of NPD ban.
- Date: 17th January 2017
- Summary: KARLSRUHE, GERMANY (JANUARY 17, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF GERMAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT MINISTER PRESIDENT OF RHINELAND-PALATINATE, MALU DREYER, TALKING TO MEDIA MEDIA STANDING AT COURT ENTRANCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) MINISTER PRESIDENT OF RHINELAND-PALATINATE, MALU DREYER, SAYING: "Even if the ban was not pushed through, the Constitutional Court did confirm the anti-constitutional nature of the NPD in all points and so I believe that this verdict us a very, very important one is. Because it provides us with real substance to know for the future as of what point a party is anti-constitutional and when they are not. So the efforts of the trial as pursued by the Federal States were of great importance and I can only thank the interior ministers for their painstaking work that made this process possible in the first place." COURTROOM INTERIOR MEDIA NPD PARTY LEADER, FRANK FRANZ AND LAWYER FOR NPD, PETER RICHTER SHAKING HANDS (SOUNDBITE) (German) NPD MEMBER OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, UDO VOIGT, SAYING: "It is a big success for the party. Despite all the talking today was about whether the NPD was getting out of the noose or not and whether the party can carry on working. And I saw it in the faces of the minister presidents that it was a slap in the face for them." VOIGT TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (German) LAWYER FOR NPD, PETER RICHTER, SAYING: "So I interpret the verdict as saying that the ban basically failed because the NPD does not use violence, they act within the bounds of the rule of law. Perhaps they have a programme that divides opinion but they are not guilty of creating a climate of fear and they do not intimidate their opposition so there is nothing to object to in their means of operating and that is why they did not get banned." MINISTER FOR THE INTERIOR OF SAXONY, MARKUS ULBIG TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (German) MINISTER FOR THE INTERIOR OF SAXONY, MARKUS ULBIG, SAYING: "I think that the decision today did make clear that we are talking about an anti-constitutional party that has an affinity to National Socialism. All the elements that we brought forward as proof was recognised." MINISTER FOR THE INTERIOR OF MECKLENBURG-WESTERN POMERANIA LORENZ CAFFIER TALKING TO REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (German) MINISTER FOR THE INTERIOR OF MECKLENBURG-WESTERN POMERANIA, LORENZ CAFFIER, SAYING: "The debate concerning right-wing extremism and extremism in general is not going anywhere one way or another. So, yes, of course I would have liked a ban but I think that at the end of the day it is a win for democracy." RICHTER AND VOIGT POSING FOR PHOTO / PAN TO EMBLEM OF JUSTICE: THE EAGLE INTERIOR OF COURTROOM
- Embargoed: 31st January 2017 13:18
- Keywords: NPD constitutional court party ban Germany democracy
- Location: KARLSRUHE, GERMANY
- City: KARLSRUHE, GERMANY
- Country: Germany
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0015ZGYKHZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: NPD members on Tuesday (January 17) celebrated the failure of a drive by German Federal states to have the party outlawed as the Constitutional Court said the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) resembled Adolf Hitler's Nazi party, but ruled against banning it because it presented no threat to democracy.
Germany's intelligence agency described the NPD as racist and anti-Semitic and the attempt by the country's 16 federal states to outlaw the party came amid rising support for right-wing groups stoked by popular resentment over the influx of migrants.
While the court said the party's aims violated the constitution, it ruled that there was insufficient evidence it would wield power. Under German law there must be hard proof that a party puts democracy at risk for it to be banned.
"Even if the ban was not pushed through, the Constitutional Court did confirm the anti-constitutional nature of the NPD in all points and so I believe that this verdict us a very, very important one is. Because it provides us with real substance to know for the future as of what point a party is anti-constitutional and when they are not," Malu Dreyer, minister president of Rhineland-palatinate said.
The tough conditions for banning a political party is in part a legacy of the crushing of dissent in the Nazi era and communist East Germany.
"I think that the decision today did make clear that we are talking about an anti-constitutional party that has an affinity to National Socialism. All the elements that we brought forward as proof was recognised," Markus Ulbig, interior minister for Saxony said.
Ahead of federal elections in September, the NPD has been largely overshadowed by the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD), for whom support has soared to 15 percent in polls, and it has failed to capitalise on the refugee crisis.
The NPD has never won enough support to win seats in the federal parliament and in September lost its last seat in a regional assembly. It is, though, represented on local councils and in 2014 won a seat in the European Parliament.
Germany's domestic intelligence agency says the NPD, established in 1964, has about 5,000 members, in a country of 82 million, and links to some violent neo-Nazis.
Several senior NPD figures have been convicted of Holocaust denial or incitement but the party denies any involvement in violence.
"So I interpret the verdict as saying that the ban basically failed because the NPD does not use violence, they act within the bounds of the rule of law. Perhaps they have a programme that divides opinion but they are not guilty of creating a climate of fear and they do not intimidate their opposition so there is nothing to object to in their means of operating and that is why they did not get banned," Peter Richter a lawyer for the NPD said after the verdict.
"It is a big success for the party. Despite all the talking today was about whether the NPD was getting out of the noose or not and whether the party can carry on working. And I saw it in the faces of the minister presidents that it was a slap in the face for them," former NPD party leader and current MEP, Udo Voigt said.
Some politicians argue that allowing the fringe NPD to exist would legitimise it and send a signal that its right-wing views are acceptable. Others say a ban could be counterproductive and push its members underground.
Only two parties have been banned since World War Two - the Socialist Reich Party, a successor to Hitler's Nazis, in 1952, and the Communist Party in 1956 in West Germany.
An earlier attempt to ban the NPD in 2003 collapsed because some of the party officials used as witnesses turned out to be government-paid informants. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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