Germany bans two far-right groups

German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble has shut down two far-right organisations, describing them as "reservoirs" of Holocaust deniers.

In a statement, the interior ministry said the authorities had raided 30 sites linked to the groups, which were based in three western German states.

Mr Schauble said they had been involved in "disseminating anti-Semitic propaganda" and glorifying the Nazis.

Holocaust denial is a criminal offence under German law.

The interior ministry said both groups had violated Germany's constitution.

They were named as Collegium Humanum and the Association for the Rehabilitation of Those Persecuted for Questioning the Holocaust, and were said to be based in Lower Saxony, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia.

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