BERLIN

A German court sentenced neo-Nazi Stephan Ernst to life in prison on Thursday for the murder of pro-refugee politician Walter Luebcke in 2019.

The 47-year-old extremist had admitted last year that he killed the conservative politician from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) due to his stance during the refugee crisis.

The Higher Regional Court in Frankfurt convicted him of the murder, and sentenced him to life, by stressing the “exceptional severity of the crime” in its ruling, made his potential release on parole highly unlikely.

According to German law, a person serving life imprisonment becomes eligible for parole after serving 15 years. But parole courts often extend prison sentences if “a severe gravity of guilt” is determined.

Stephan Ernst has been behind bars since his arrest in June 2019.

Walter Lubcke, who was serving as the district president of the Kassel city near Frankfurt, was known for her support for Merkel’s open-door policy for refugees.

He had received death threats from various far-right groups since 2015.