German neo-Nazi email threats continue despite arrest

German authorities said on Tuesday that they believe there were at least two perpetrators behind a recent series of threatening emails with neo-Nazi overtones that have been sent to politicians across the country. With one suspect already in custody, a very similar email was then sent to the chief prosecutor of Berlin's city government.

"You certainly don't want anything to happen to Madam Prosecutor Margarete Kloppers, do you?" said the email, demanding 100 million euros ($113 million) to leave Kloppers alone.

"We will do everything we can, so that soon pogroms against Jews and Muslims will be carried out in the country…and that left-wing journalists and politicians do not feel safe," the message continued.

Bomb threats, evacuations

Last week, police had already arrested a man in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein over a series of emails signed by the "National Socialist Offensive," or the "NSU 2.0," referencing the National Socialist Underground terror cell that killed at least 10 people. They included murder and bomb threats, and prompted the evacuation of a train station, a kindergarten, a tax office, and several town halls and court houses.

On Friday, a man known to have far-right extremist beliefs was accused of being behind the emails and placed in pre-trial detention, facing charges of disturbing the peace by threatening to commit crimes.

According to public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk, the man is a German citizen in his 30s. Investigators are now searching for his suspected accomplice. They believe that over 200 of these emails have been sent.

es/msh (AFP, dpa)

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