Pegida chief quits over racism probe

The leader of the fast-growing German anti-Muslim movement Pegida resigned after a photo of him posing as Hitler, and reports that he called refugees “scumbags”, prompted prosecutors to investigate him for inciting racial hatred.

Lutz Bachmann, a 41-year-old convicted burglar, had appeared on the front page of top-selling daily newspaper Bild sporting a Hitler moustache and haircut.

Bild and another paper said he had called asylum-seekers “animals” and “scumbags”.

The news came just as supporters of Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the West), which is based in Dresden, staged a march in another east German city, Leipzig.

However, the so-called Legida rally attracted only around 15,000 people — far fewer than the originally estimated 40,000 — and they were outnumbered by more than 20,000 people who joined several counter-demonstrations, officials said.

Pegida has forced itself onto the political agenda with its anti-immigrant slogans that have attracted tens of thousands to regular rallies in Dresden.

Bachmann, who denies he is a racist, had heard he faces a criminal investigation for incitement to racial hatred. State prosecutors in Dresden said preliminary proceedings had been launched following the Bild report.

Kathrin Oertel, another Pegida co-founder, said Bachmann’s resignation had nothing to do with the Hitler photo, but was linked to his comments on refugees posted on the internet.

“Yes, I can confirm that Lutz Bachmann has offered his resignation and it was accepted,” Oertel told Reuters.

She added: “Pegida will go on.”

Bild quoted Bachmann as saying the Hitler photo had been taken as a joke, prompted by a recent satirical book about the Nazi dictator called Er ist wieder da (Look Who’s Back).