Protests against far-right draw 200,000 in Munich

Protests against Germany's far right drew 200,000 people in the southern city of Munich on Saturday, reported dpa, quoting police.

Organizers put the number of demonstrators in the Bavarian capital at some 320,000.

Protesters flocked to the Theresienwiese, where the world-famous Oktoberfest beer festival is held every autumn, to march for "diversity, human dignity, cohesion and democracy."

Attendees held banners denouncing racism and fascism, while the peaceful demonstration also received support from civil society organizations ranging from the Munich Film Festival to church and charity organizations and the Bayern Munich football club.

Politicians from Bavaria's centre-right Christian Social Union (CSU) stayed away, with the state justice minister, Georg Eisenreich, saying that he expected criticism of his party's asylum and migration policies.

Germany has seen a wave of protests after the conservative alliance of the CSU and Christian Democrats passed a non-binding motion on migration reform in parliament last week with support from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

The controversial vote has dominated the campaign ahead of national elections on February 23.