German court bans neo-nazis' May 8 march around holocaust memorial

Germany's highest court on Friday dismissed an appeal by the far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) to march around Berlin's Holocaust memorial on May 8.

German Interior Minister Otto Schily welcomed the decision, saying that it made neo-nazis unable to dishonor the remembrance of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust.

Thousands of leftists would stage a rally around eastern Berlin' s main square Alexanderplatz to protest and block off NPD's planned march on May 8, local media reported.

Berlin authorities expected high tensions and confrontations between leftists and neo-nazis and planned to send thousands of police there, it reported.

Meanwhile, Berlin authorities will hold a two-day rallies titled "Democracy Day" around the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin, marking the 60th anniversary of end of the WWII.

A law banning rallies by neo-Nazis in sensitive areas including Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and the nearby Holocaust memorial took effect in March.

The move made it easier for German authorities to block the planned march by NPD at the Brandenburg Gate on May 8.

The NPD's intention to march raised alarm among politicians and people in Germany.

In January, the NPD staged a walkout and refused to observe a minute's silence in the Saxony parliament for millions of Nazi victims, prompting calls to ban the party.

Last September, the NPD shocked Germans by winning 9.2 percent of the vote in elections in the eastern German state of Saxony gaining 12 seats in the state parliament.

Source: Xinhua