Hundreds of right-wing extremists wanted for arrest in Germany

BERLIN

Hundreds of right-wing extremists are wanted for arrest in Germany, the Berlin-based Taz newspaper reported Wednesday.

As of Sept. 30, there were open arrest warrants for 674 people from the far-right spectrum, the Interior Ministry said in response to a parliamentary inquiry made by the radical leftist opposition party The Left.

According to the information, 33 of the arrest warrants were related to a "politically motivated violent offence" and 151 to "crimes with right-wing motivation" such as the display of unconstitutional symbols or incitement to hatred.

The remaining cases involved general crimes such as theft, financial scams and fraudulently obtaining social welfare benefits.

Between March and September this year, 326 arrest warrants for people from the right-wing spectrum were executed or they were legally settled, for example by paying a fine, the ministry said.

At the same time, new arrest warrants were issued for the same or other people and a search was initiated.

A member of The Left party faction, Martina Renner, who had asked for the parliamentary inquiry, called for stepped-up pressure to search for those right-wing extremists who are on the run.

"The high number of open arrest warrants shows that right-wing violence is an everyday threat even beyond spectacular raids," she told the Taz daily.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left coalition government has repeatedly vowed to enact stronger measures to counter the growing threat posed by far-right groups.

The country has witnessed growing racism and xenophobia in recent years fueled by the propaganda of far-right, anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim groups, including the main opposition party Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Far-right terrorism in Germany has claimed the lives of at least 218 innocent people since 1989, according to the Berlin-based Amadeu Antonio Foundation.

Human rights groups have long criticized authorities for underestimating the threat and not seriously investigating crimes committed by neo-Nazis.