Dawn raid on 33 suspected neo-Nazis

Left-wing demonstrators take part in a march against neo-Nazis in Dresden on February 18, 2012.

Left-wing demonstrators take part in a march against neo-Nazis in Dresden on February 18, 2012.

Published Mar 13, 2012

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German authorities said they had carried out dawn raids Tuesday on 33 suspected members or supporters of a neo-Nazi group, carrying out 24 arrests.

The 6.00 am (05.00 GMT) raids on the 33 German citizens aged between 17 and 54 were part of a probe into the banned group “Aktionsbuero Mittelrhein”, prosecutors in the western German city of Koblenz said in a statement.

They also launched a probe into allegations of grievous bodily harm, serious breach of the peace and use of banned symbols.

“Nineteen of the accused were arrested for membership of a criminal organisation, three for supporting a criminal organisation and two for participating in a serious breach of the peace,” the prosecutors said.

According to prosecutors, the “Aktionsbuero Mittelrhein” gathered information about political opponents and then “outed” them publicly in a bid to intimidate them.

“All participants were aware that a climate of hate was being created and fears were being stoked,” the statement added.

“Another area of activity was the openly violent acts against members of the left-wing scene, both locally and further afield,” added the prosecutors.

However, investigators said there was no link to the neo-Nazi cell National Socialist Underground (NSU), believed to have killed 10 people - mostly shopkeepers of Turkish origin - in a case that has shocked the country. - Sapa-AFP

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