Neo-nazis arrested after arms find
01 March 1992
Recent months have seen a rising tide of racist attacks by neo-nazi skinheads across Hungary which, according to the anti-racist Martin Luther King organisation, have left between 60-80 black people injured. It has been claimed that much of the impetus for these attacks has come from the west and the discovery of an arms cache, which included grenades and guns, along with fascist propaganda, at a sports club in Gyoer, Hungary, goes some way to confirm this.
Seven members of the Hungarian National Socialist Action Group were detained, but later released, by the police, but the club has also been linked to Gottfried Kussel, leader of the Austrian neo-nazi People's Loyal Parliamentary Opposition (Vapo), who was arrested by the Austrian authorities following the find.
Vapo are known to have been involved in organising paramilitary training camps, outside of Vienna, for some time but, it is claimed, their activities were not reported. Much of the funding for their training, and propaganda, is believed to have come from the United States and the name of former Ku Klux Klan leader, David Duke, who recently stood for the governorship of Louisiana, has been mentioned in the course of investigations. Kessel is seen as pivotal figure in these networks.
Four other members of Vapo, who were close to Kessel, were arrested in January for a firebomb attack on a refugee centre housing 200 people.
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