Racist Slur

Far-Right Party Leaders Convicted in World Cup Racism Case

A German court on Friday convicted the leader of the far-right NPD and two further high-ranking party members on charges of inciting racial hatred during the 2006 World Cup. A party pamphlet was aimed at a black member of the German national football team, who testified against the extremists.

Far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) leader Udo Voigt and two senior party members were found guilty on Friday on charges relating to a pamphlet that was circulated during the World Cup two years ago which suggested that defender Patrick Owomoyela, born of a German mother and a Nigerian father, wasn't white enough to play for Germany's national team.

Voigt and party spokesman Klaus Beier both received seven-month suspended sentences for their conviction on charges of defamation and inciting racial hatred. NPD head of legal affairs Frank Schwerdt was given a 10-month suspended sentence. The politicians were also ordered to pay €2,000 each to the children's advocacy group Unicef. Prosecutors had called for more severe punishment -- one year suspended sentences for each.

In the run-up to the World Cup in Germany, the NPD published and distributed a flyer entitled "White! Not just the jersey color! For a real national team." The German national team traditionally wears white, but the leaflet was decorated with the number 25 -- the number of national-squad player Owomoyela, who was born in Hamburg to a German mother and a Nigerian father.

Owomoyela petitioned a court and obtained a preliminary injunction, leading to the confiscation of 70,000 copies of the flyer. Together with the German Football Association (DFB), the defender filed for charges to be pressed against the party officials. Undeterred, the NPD published another guide to the World Cup which, investigators said, was also insulting to Owomoyela.

The professional soccer player, who testified in the case, said the racist accusations had "insulted, injured and shamed" him.

The conviction adds to a shopping list of problems recently afflicting the NPD. The group, which has been described by Germany's domestic intelligence agency as a "racist, anti-Semitic, revisionist" party, is on the brink of insolvency after being levied with fines of €2.5 million for financial statement irregularities. The party, which has several seats in state governments, must pay its penalties by May 1, and faces financial problems that could pose an existential threat.

jas -- with wires