Prominent German nationalist spared expulsion from party

BERLIN – A regional branch of the nationalist Alternative for Germany says a party tribunal has rejected a call for the expulsion of a prominent member who suggested the country end its tradition of acknowledging and atoning for its Nazi past.

In February 2017, the party leadership voted to start expulsion proceedings against Bjoern Hoecke, its leader in eastern Thuringia state. Hoecke had said Germany needs to perform a "180-degree turn" when it comes to remembering its past, and said the Berlin memorial to the millions of Jews killed in the Holocaust is a "monument of shame."

Expulsion proceedings were championed by then-party leader Frauke Petry, who left the party last fall.

The party's Thuringia branch said Wednesday that a party tribunal in the state threw out the call for Hoecke's expulsion.