German court dismisses far-right suit vs president

BERLIN (AP) — Germany's highest court has thrown out a complaint by the country's biggest far-right party against President Joachim Gauck, who described protesters against a center for asylum seekers as "nutcases."

The National Democratic Party argued Gauck violated its rights when he said during an event weeks before German national elections last September: "We need citizens who take to the streets and show the nutcases their limits."

Gauck was referring to protests launched by party members and supporters against the transformation of an abandoned Berlin school into a dormitory for asylum seekers.

The Federal Constitutional Court ruled Tuesday that Gauck didn't cross constitutional "boundaries regarding negative remarks about political parties."

It said the word "nutcases" was acceptable "as a collective term for people who have not learned the lessons of history."

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