Berlin [Germany], September 20: Germany has banned the right-wing extremist group Hammerskins, the Ministry of the Interior (BMI) announced on Tuesday. The ban includes the group's regional chapters and the sub-organization Crew 38.
"With this ban, we are putting an end to the inhuman activities of an internationally active neo-Nazi group in Germany," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement, calling the measure a "hard blow against organized right-wing extremism."
Early on Tuesday morning, German task forces began searching the houses of 28 members of the group in 10 states, including the capital Berlin.
The ministry said that the group's purpose and activities were "violating criminal law," and it was "opposing the constitutional order and the idea of international understanding."
The banned group is an offshoot of Hammerskins Nation, which was founded in 1988 in the United States. In Germany, the group has around 130 members, officials say.
With the U.S. authorities' support, Germany's federal and state governments have been working on the ban for more than a year. It is the 20th right-wing extremist group to be banned by the German government.
According to the latest official constitution protection report, the number of extremist crimes in Germany reached an all-time high in 2022. More than 35,400 crimes with an extremist motivation were reported last year.
Source: Xinhua