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Move to outlaw French neo-Nazi group

PARIS, May 3 (AFP) – French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin on Tuesday launched the centre-right government’s first bid to dissolve a neo-Nazi group, following through on a pledge made in February, his ministry said.  

Villepin sent a letter to leaders of the Alsatian group Elsass Korps, based in eastern France, informing them of his intention to disband the movement.  

Elsass Korps has 10 days from receipt of the letter to respond, the ministry said. During that period, Villepin can prepare a decree of dissolution to be presented to the cabinet later this month.  

“These movements must be dissolved,” Villepin said in February, estimating that some 3,000 people belong to neo-Nazi groups across France.  

“We will keep close watch to make sure that these groups do not form again under false names,” the minister said, calling the movements “a threat and a danger, especially when we know their activities are more and more violent”  

The minister said neo-Nazi groups were responsible for 65 acts of violence in 2004, as compared with just 27 such acts in 2003.  

Villepin, the government’s point man on law and order, said he would crack down on the spread of neo-Nazi ideas via the internet, and ask mayors and regional officials to help prevent public meetings of neo-Nazi groups.

 

© AFP

Subject: French News