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Far-left German MP hit with cream pie in protest at stance on refugees

by Reuters
Saturday, 28 May 2016 18:07 GMT

"Anti-fascist Initiative, pies against the enemies of mankind" was outraged by Sahra Wagenknecht's refugee policy

MAGDEBURG, Germany, May 28 (Reuters) - A prominent member of Germany's far-left Linke party was hit in the face with a chocolate cream pie on Saturday in an attack claimed by a self-styled "anti-fascist" group protesting her stance on refugees.

Sahra Wagenknecht, who has advocated putting a limit on the number of refugees Germany should accept, is the second German politician to be attacked with a desert this year over her position on asylum-seekers. Beatrix von Storch of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party suffered a similar fate last month.

Wagenknecht was sitting in the front row during the opening speech at a party congress when a young man stopped in front of her and threw the creamy pie in her face, before shouting what sounded like slogans.

The party's president interrupted his speech. As cameramen rushed towards her, one party official asked journalists not to film or take pictures of Wagenknecht as another sought to screen the Linke's parliamentary group leader with a jacket.

The man who threw the pie was swiftly taken away by security and offered no resistance. A young woman later said they belonged to a group called the "Anti-fascist Initiative, pies against the enemies of mankind," which was outraged by Wagenknecht's refugee policy.

Wagenknecht suffered a backlash in her own party when she spoke of a cap on how many refugees Germany should take in. The party has since distanced itself from that stance. (Reporting by Hans-Edzard Busemann; Writing by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Helen Popper)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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