Germany: neo-Nazi sentenced to life for murder of pro-migrant CDU elected official
The author of the murder of an elected CDU, the neo-Nazi Stephan Ernst (right), accompanied by his lawyer at the Frankfurt court on January 28, 2021. AFP - KAI PFAFFENBACH
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2 min
The murder 18 months ago of a German Christian Democrat elected in favor of Angela Merkel's pro-migrant policy shook Germany.
For the first time, an elected official was a victim of far-right terrorism.
The killer, a neo-Nazi, has just been sentenced to life on Thursday by a court in Frankfurt.
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With our correspondent in Berlin
,
Pascal Thibaut
The temperatures are pleasant on June 2, 2019. In the evening, Walter Lübcke smokes a cigarette on the terrace of his house in Kassel.
The leader of Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic party is shot in the head.
The murderer,
Stephan Ernst
, has a long career in the German far right behind him.
As early as the 1980s, he was known to be a neo-Nazi sympathizer with violent potential.
A public discussion around the reception of many migrants in Germany after 2015 which he attended will crystallize his hatred against Walter Lübcke.
The 60-year-old who supports Angela Merkel's policy recommends that critical Germans leave their country if they are unhappy.
Stephan Ernst will then take months before taking action.
Terrorism, the authorities' priority
This murder, the first of a political leader by the extreme right since the war, caused a caesura in Germany where this terrorism becomes the priority of the authorities, long negligent.
The attacks in Halle and Hanau a few months later confirmed the importance of this danger.
The competent services are strengthened.
Groups are prohibited.
Social networks must not only erase, but also inform authorities of extremist posts.
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See also: Germany: the murder of a pro-migrant elected official in court
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