Germany: Political crime at record high

BERLIN, April 22 (UPI) -- The number of political crimes committed in Germany in 2008 shot to a new record high.

The number of politically motivated crimes grew by 11 percent to 31,801 -- the highest level since Germany changed the way it records these crimes, the German Interior Ministry said.

Far-right crimes shot up by around 16 percent last year to 20,422, with two people killed by right-wing extremists. The number of left-wing crimes grew by 15 percent to 6,700.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said the statistics are "worrying," denouncing what he said is an increasing tendency to "defend one's own political ideology with violence."

The Interior Ministry said the increase in far-right crimes, however, is also due to the fact that 2008 for the first time also recorded propaganda-related offenses, such as publishing neo-Nazi material.

The opposition called on the German government to increase its prevention efforts to curb politically motivated crime.