Hundreds of 'Treason' Complaints against Merkel over Refugees
German federal prosecutors have received a flood of criminal complaints against Chancellor Angela Merkel accusing her of "high treason" over her welcoming policy toward refugees, a spokeswoman said Thursday.
Contacted by AFP, spokeswoman Frauke Koehler said around 400 complaints had been filed against the German leader, who has taken an open-door stance on those fleeing war and persecution.
Koehler declined to comment on the content of the complaints. But the daily Tageszeitung reported Thursday that Merkel had been targeted by a campaign organized by far-right activists criticizing her asylum policy.
According to the report, many of the criminal complaints are similar and appear to be based on a template provided by the right-wing populist magazine Compact.
In it, the plaintiffs attack the influx of refugees, citing "practically apocalyptic scenes... that could bring about Germany's demise within a year."
Legal experts said the complaints were unlikely to prompt a criminal investigation let alone charges against Merkel because the law stipulates that treason must entail "violence or the threat of violence".
Germany is expecting to see up to a million asylum requests this year. Many of those who have arrived so far are from war-ravaged countries like Syria or Iraq, but a sizable number has also come from designated safe countries in the Balkans.
Merkel has attempted to rally Germans to the task of welcoming hundreds of thousands of desperate people escaping conflict zones.
But she now faces a domestic backlash and has seen her approval rating fall in the process.
Source: Agence France Presse
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