By Madeline Chambers
BERLIN, Jan 21 (Reuters) – German prosecutors opened an investigation into a leader of the anti-Muslim PEGIDA movement on Wednesday for inciting hatred after a newspaper printed a photo of him posing as Hitler and reported that he had described refugees as ‘animals’ and ‘scumbags’.
‘Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West’ (PEGIDA) has forced itself onto the political agenda with anti-immigrant slogans that have attracted tens of thousands to regular rallies in Dresden.
A march by PEGIDA’s sister movement LEGIDA is to take place on Wednesday evening in Leipzig after police banned a PEGIDA march in Dresden planned for Monday, as well as counter demonstrations, due to a concrete threat of an attack.
Now PEGIDA’s co-founder Lutz Bachmann, 41, who has a criminal conviction for burglary but denies he is racist or anti-Muslim, faces a criminal investigation.
“Preliminary proceedings have been opened. The suspicion is of incitement to popular hatred,” a spokesman for state prosecutors in Dresden told Reuters, adding that pictures of the Hitler pose and other comments attributed to Bachmann had prompted the probe.
Photo of Germany’s Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann posing as Hitler on front page of daily BILD pic.twitter.com/E3xvOHdyFk
