Man charged in Germany over extremist hate mail to public figures

The public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt has charged a man in connection with right-wing extremist mails sent to public figures in Germany over the past three years, reported dpa.

Some 116 messages were mostly marked with the sender "NSU 2.0," a reference to the National Socialist Underground – a far-right terrorist group that was uncovered about 10 years ago.

The 53-year-old was charged with, among other things, insult, threat and incitement, prosecutors announced on Thursday.

The man was arrested in his flat in Berlin on May 3 and has been in custody since then.

The threatening letters were sent between August 2018 and March 2021 by email, fax or text message and the alleged author regularly used the Nazi greeting "Heil Hitler" and called himself "SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer," a paramilitary rank in the former Nazi party.

Recipients were private individuals, public figures as well as authorities and institutions. The letters contained verbal insults or strong swear words against people with Turkish roots.