German court rejects far-right party's call to drop ban case

BERLIN – Germany's highest court has rejected a call from a far-right party to drop the case for its prohibition.

The Federal Constitutional Court is considering a bid by Parliament's upper house to outlaw the National Democratic Party, which officials accuse of promoting a racist, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic agenda.

It's the second attempt at a ban. In 2003, the court rejected a previous application because paid government informants within the group were partially responsible for evidence against it.

Officials say there are no longer informants in the party, but its lawyer argued there was no evidence of that and sought the case's closure.

Chief justice Andreas Vosskuhle said Wednesday there was no such obstacle to the case proceeding, news agency dpa reported. The court is not likely to rule for several months.