Germany's AfD to expel members allegedly linked to neo-Nazi group

Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) plans to expel three party members who are suspected of belonging to a neo-Nazi group, the party leader for the eastern state of Saxony said on Wednesday.

Jörg Urban said: "The AfD rejects any form of violence in political debate. Even preparations for possible acts of violence or uprisings are unacceptable."

The party said that the executive committee's decision to expel the party members was unanimous, but still has to be ruled on by the state arbitration court.

The leaders of party on a national level, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, said in a statement that they supported the expulsion.

The decision came after an AfD member was detained, along with seven other German nationals, for suspected membership in a militant group called the "Saxon Separatists" on Tuesday in Saxony and Poland.

One of the suspected right-wing terrorists detained on Tuesday had worked in the office of the AfD member of the state parliament, Alexander Wiesner.

A spokesman for the AfD faction in the state parliament said that Wiesner had dismissed the person in question as soon as the arrest became known.

According to a statement from the state parliament, the man did not have a pass for the parliament, nor did he have uncontrolled access to the parliament building.

Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office has described the group as a militant organization of 15 to 20 individuals hoping to "establish a state and society based on National Socialism" in eastern Germany.

Its members, prosecutors said, share a profound rejection of Germany's free and democratic constitutional order, and an ideology marked by racist, anti-Semitic and apocalyptic beliefs.

The group is reportedly convinced that Germany is on the verge of "collapse," after which the organization plans to take control of areas in Saxony and possibly other eastern German states by force.

Prosecutors said that, under the group's plan, "undesired groups of people are to be removed from the area by ethnic cleansing if necessary."

The AfD member who was arrested is a local politician for the party. According to security sources, he sustained a jaw injury during his arrest.

The man is said to have appeared before police officers with a long gun during the raid, prompting the police to fire two warning shots.

According to dpa information, he is a hunter and, like one of the other people detained, has a firearms licence. Unregistered weapons and ammunition were also reportedly found during raids on Tuesday.

An investigating judge issued a pre-trial detention order for six of the suspects on Tuesday evening, according to a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office in the western city of Karlsruhe.

It was initially unclear when the remaining two suspects would be brought before the judge.

The AfD members concerned are to be excluded from exercising any rights as party members with immediate effect until the arbitration court makes its decision.