Far-right threatened murdered German politician: Report

BERLIN (AA) - A prominent pro-refugee politician murdered in the central German state of Hesse on Sunday had earlier received death threats from various far-right groups, local media reported.

Walter Lubcke, known for her support for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open door policy for refugees, died of a single gunshot wound to the head in his garden, according to the police.

Die Tageszeitung daily reported on Tuesday that the 65-year-old conservative politician had received death threats from far-right extremists and members of the Reichsbuerger movement, who reject the legitimacy of the modern German state and believe that it is still occupied by the Allied powers.

The police said on Monday that they could not yet find any evidence indicating a far-right motive behind the murder, and underlined that they were investigating all possibilities.

Lubcke, a member of Merkel’s party Christian Democratic Union (CDU), was serving as the district president of the Kassel city since 2009.