By Toby Helm in Berlin

THE German government compared the far-Right National Democratic Party (NPD) to the Nazis as it announced yesterday that it would apply to the country's highest court to have the organisation banned. On the eve of an anti-racist protest in Berlin in which more than 100,000 people are expected to march through the capital, the cabinet agreed unanimously to pursue a ban on the grounds that the NPD encourages violence and racism.

Otto Schily, the Interior Minister, said the move was part of a wide-ranging effort to rid Germany of far-Right violence and anti-Semitism. The NPD, which has come under scrutiny following a series of racist incidents in recent months, had "clearly sought in words, colours and programme to resemble" the Nazis, Mr Schily told a press conference.

Given this likeness, it was important that lessons should be learnt from Hitler's rise to the summit of power in 1933. "If I had been interior minister in 1923 I would have sought a ban [on the Nazi party]," said Mr Schily. "We shouldn't wait until 1933." If the application is supported by the court, the NPD would become the first party banned in Germany since the Communist Party (KPD) was declared illegal in 1956. Judges decided then that the KPD's Marxism was incompatible with the constitution.

Günter Deckert (former NPD leader) released from Jail under "supervision"

Flashback to what the Judges said

Index: the Deckert Case