Far-right AfD leaders call ban on magazine 'blow' to press freedom

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has sharply criticized the government's ban on the far-right Compact magazine.

The decision, announced on Tuesday by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, is "a serious blow to the freedom of the press," said the far-right party's leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla in a joint statement.

The two said banning a press organ was "a denial of discourse and diversity of opinion" and accused Faeser of abusing her powers "to suppress critical reporting."

Faeser had issued a ban on editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsässer's magazine and had premises associated with the media organization searched in four states.

The ban was justified on the grounds that the monthly magazine disseminates "anti-Semitic, racist, anti-minority, historical revisionist and conspiracy theory content."