Germany urged to take 'strongest legal action against neo-Nazis'

Simon Wiesenthal Center urges German police to look into police chief attack.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS
simon wiesenthal 88 298 (photo credit: Courtesy photo)
simon wiesenthal 88 298
(photo credit: Courtesy photo)
The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center on Monday urged the German police and judicial authorities to take "the strongest possible measures" against the neo-Nazis who attempted to murder a German police chief over the weekend. The organization's chief Nazi-hunter noted that Alois Mannichi, police chief of the Bavarian city of Passau, was attacked for his refusal to tolerate neo-Nazi activity and stressed the importance of an unequivocally strong response by the authorities in this case. "The brazen stabbing of Passau police chief Mannichi, who refused to tolerate the racist activities of local neo-Nazis, should sound a very loud alarm for the German police and judicial authorities, whose response to such acts of violence will determine to what extent such violations of the law will continue," Dr. Efraim Zuroff said. "We urge the German authorities to take the strongest measures possible against the racist hooligans responsible for this crime and thereby send an unequivocal message that there is no room for neo-Nazis in the Federal Republic," he added. German authorities have released two men suspected in the attack after the victim failed to identify them and their DNA samples did not match samples taken from the crime scene. The German police chief was stabbed Saturday by a skinhead who said "greetings from the national resistance, you leftist pig," before plunging a knife into his chest. The 52-year-old underwent emergency surgery and is now in stable condition. AP contributed to this report.