Udo Voigt

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Udo Voigt
Udo Voigt
Leader of the National Democratic Party of Germany
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1996
Preceded by Günter Deckert
Member of Berlin Bezirksverordnetenversammlung for Treptow-Köpenick
Incumbent
Assumed office 
2006
Born 1952
Viersen, North-Rhine-Westphalia
Political party National Democratic Party of Germany
Profession Politician

Udo Voigt (born 1952 in Viersen) is a German politician and leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany since 1996. He is a former aviation engineer and captain in the German army.[1]

[edit] Political Career

Udo Voigt and American white nationalist David Duke
Udo Voigt and American white nationalist David Duke

Since the last election in September 2006 Voigt is an elected member of the Berlin Bezirksverordnetenversammlung (BVV) in the Treptow-Köpenick district.[2] Previously he has been unsuccessful at the European Parliament elections and when running for mayor of Saarbrücken.

He joined the NPD, a far-right nationalist party in 1968 and was elected as leader (German: Vorsitzender) in 1996, succeeding Günter Deckert who had been arrested in 1995 and was in prison until 2000. The NPD is considered by mainstream media and political parties to be a de facto neo-Nazi organization and under Voigt's leadership, Germany's federal court attempted to ban the party, claiming it was a threat to Germany's constitutional order.

In 2005, Voigt compared the Bombing of Dresden in World War II to the Holocaust; some suggested this was a violation of Germany's laws on Holocaust denial, but the Hamburg public prosecutor deemed the comment an exercise of free speech and declined to prosecute.

On March 13, 2008, Voigt was charged (at least for the second time in his life) with demagoguery (Volksverhetzung) - an offense punishable by up to five years in prison.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Röbel, Sven. Internal NPD Documents Reveal Chaos: Germany's Right Wing Extremists in Disarray. Spiegel Online. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  2. ^ Bezirksverordnetensammlung Treptow-Köpenick - Berlin.de. www.berlin.de. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
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Chairmen of the National Democratic Party of Germany
Friedrich Thielen (1964–1967) • Adolf von Thadden (1967–1971) • Martin Mussgnug (1971–1990) • Günter Deckert (1991–1996) • Udo Voigt (1996–)
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The far right in post-war Germany
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