Illustrative: Policemen walk through a street close to the site of a shooting in Halle an der Saale, eastern Germany, on October 9, 2019. (Sebastian Willnow/dpa/AFP)
BERLIN, Germany (AP) Berlin police arrested a 53-year-old German man on suspicion of sending dozens of threatening letters to politicians, lawyers and journalists that were signed with the acronym of a neo-Nazi group, as officials warned Tuesday that statistics show a disturbing rise in far-right extremism across Germany.
Antisemitic crimes rose by more than 15 percent in 2020, the data showed.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said far-right crime rose 5.65% in 2020, accounting for more than half of all criminality categorized as “politically motivated.”
German far-right crime rises; police arrest alleged neo-Nazi stripes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stripes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
May 4, 2021 3:32 PM EDT
BERLIN (AP) Berlin police arrested a 53-year-old German man on suspicion of sending dozens of threatening letters to politicians, lawyers and journalists that were signed with the acronym of a neo-Nazi group, as officials warned Tuesday that statistics show a disturbing rise in far-right extremism across Germany.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said far-right crime rose 5.65 percent in 2020, accounting for more than half of all criminality categorized as “politically motivated.”
“This shows again that right-wing extremism is the biggest threat for our country,” Seehofer told reporters Tuesday while announcing the annual statistics.
In carrying out Monday’s arrest in Berlin, police seized an unencrypted hard drive with data that might help with an ongoing probe, said Holger Muench, the head of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office.
German far-right crime rises; police arrest alleged neo-Nazi gazettetimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from gazettetimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.