BONN (Dec. 3)
Justice Minister Hans-Jochen Vogel has called for measures to close legal loopholes which prevent the effective prosecution of neo-Nazis. Addressing a conference of the Social Democratic Party’s parliamentary faction in West Berlin, he cited the fact that the production, storage and import of toys and other objects with Nazi emblems remains legal while the distribution and use of such items is a criminal offense. Vogel noted that to date there have been 244 convictions for neo-Nazi activities and 310 cases are pending. The longest sentence was II years and the highest fine was DM 14,000.