German court rejects ban on far-right political party NPD

Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Germany's Federal Constitutional Court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by lawmakers to ban the National Democratic Party, or NPD, a far-right, ultranationalist party that is sometimes described as a neo-Nazi organization.

The German top court said the NPD does not have the potential to seriously threaten the country's democracy.

"There is currently a lack of concrete evidence to make it seem likely that NPD's actions will lead to success, which is why the court has unanimously rejected the motion as groundless," the court said in a statement.

The German court said that while the NPD's views violate the Constitution, the group does not have the means to reach its goals of establishing an ethnically defined authoritarian government system. Previously, senior NPD members have been convicted of Holocaust denial or incitement.

The NPD has about 5,000 members but does not have seats in Germany's Bundestag or Bundesrat. It does, however, have 338 local council seats, most of them in formerly communist East Germany.

The Bundesrat filed a lawsuit against NPD in an attempt to ban the group because of "its racist, anti-Semitic program" that the lawmakers alleged violated Germany's Constitution and threatened its democracy. Germany's federal government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel supported but did not directly involve itself with the case.

"The last two years have shown the NPD is capable of gathering crowds and inciting them to hateful acts," German lawmaker Stanislaw Tillich previously said. "Violence against people and property, as well as arson attacks on refugee accommodation centers are the consequences of their racist ideas."

A previous attempt to ban the NPD in 2003 failed due to a scandal involving undercover agents. The Federal Constitutional Court, the only court with the power to ban a party, has twice banned a party since the fall of Nazi Germany in 1945.