German AfD MP seriously injured in Bremen street attack

A member of parliament for Germany’s far-right AfD party was severely beaten in the street in Bremen on Monday evening in what police said was probably a "politically motivated" gang attack in the north of the country, on Tuesday (January 8).

Frank Magnitz, leader in Bremen of the anti-immigration populist party Alternative for Germany (AfD), was assaulted in the city centre on Monday afternoon.

"Given the victim's work, we believe that this is a politically motivated act," police said.

The AfD party published a photo of Magnitz unconscious on a hospital bed, his face bleeding and swollen with a gash on his forehead.

It said three masked men had carried out the attack.

"They hit him with a piece of wood until he was unconscious and then kicked him on the ground," a statement from the party said, adding that a construction worker had intervened to stop the assault.

"Today is a dark day for democracy in Germany."

AfD leader Joerg Meuthen tweeted that Magnitz was "beaten almost to death" in a "cowardly and sickening" attack.

Johannes Kahrs, an MP from the Social Democrats, junior partners in the ruling coalition, said "violence is never acceptable" and that "extremism in any form is rubbish".

Cem Ozdemir of the opposition Greens party said he hoped those responsible could be "found and convicted soon" and that, even against a far-right party, "nothing justifies violence".

"Those who fight hate with hate only allow hate to win in the end," said the politician of Turkish origin.

The Bremen prosecutors’ office and a unit of the Federal Crime Office responsible for investigating politically motivated incidents are investigating, Bremen police said.

The AfD entered Germany's Parliament with almost 13 per cent of the vote in September 2017, making it the strongest opposition party in the Bundestag Lower House.

The party is expected to make gains in European elections in May and three regional polls in the former communist east later this year.

“The AfD is more and more the target of left-wing attacks, which the other parties fail to condemn or even support,” the party said.