No to Nazis
January 3, 2009
About 200 members of the far-right National Democratic Party marched on Saturday, gathering in front of police headquarters in Passau and protesting what they called the "arbitrary" conduct of police and a "media smear campaign."
However, the right-wing participants were far outnumbered by counter demonstrators, who numbered around a thousand.
"We have to tap into the virtues of our able-bodied democracy," Mayor Juergen Dupper told the crowd, saying Passau was a city of tolerance which disdained right-wing violence.
Some 1,000 police officers were also on duty to prevent outbreaks of violence. Ten people were arrested.
Right-wing attack
The police chief of Passau, Alois Mannichl, was stabbed outside his home in mid-December by a man whose appearance indicated sympathies with the extreme right. Mannichl said the man shouted right-wing slogans during the attack.
Mannichl, 52, is well-known for his tough stance toward right-wing extremists. He survived the attack and has been released from the hospital.
Police have been looking for leads in the case, and searching for at least two suspects, but have so far been unsuccessful. They have questioned members of the local right-wing scene but have.
The attack has raised new calls to ban the NPD, which is closely tied to the neo-Nazi scene, although no specific connection has been proven between the party and the Mannichl case.
The neo-Nazi march was first banned by city authorities but was given a court go-ahead on Friday.