Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BERLIN (AP) — German prosecutors have closed their investigation into a prominent member of the far-right nationalist Alternative for Germany party whose comments about Turks drew outrage in February.
Andre Poggenburg resigned from his party posts following widespread criticism, including from within his party, for referring to Turkish people as "camel drivers" who had "no business" being in Germany.
The dpa news agency reported Tuesday that Dresden prosecutors found the comments by Poggenburg, who was the party's leader in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, were covered by his right to free speech.
Prosecutors noted that while Poggenburg had railed against members of the Turkish community "in a polemical fashion," he hadn't called for violence against them.
Authorities received more than 240 criminal complaints about the comments.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
