German far-right activist held in Hungary over arms sales

BERLIN – Agence France-Presse

A German far-right activist was arrested in Hungary on March 28 on suspicion of illegally selling weapons through a website that urged citizens to defend themselves against migrants, Berlin prosecutors said.

The suspect, 34-year-old Mario Roensch, was detained in an early morning raid on his Budapest home by Hungarian anti-terror officers.

Prosecutors said he is “strongly suspected” of running the far-right website Migrantenschreck (Migrants’ fright) between May and

November 2016, which according to German media called on citizens to “arm themselves against refugees.”

“He is believed to have illegally sold 193 permit-requiring firearms to buyers in Germany,” the statement from the Berlin prosecutor’s office read.

They added that Hungarian police searched two properties in connection with the probe, and seized computer hard drives as evidence.

Public broadcasters NDR and WDR said Roensch, who had been on the run from German authorities, was detained under a European arrest warrant.

They also reported that the weapons allegedly sold by the suspect -- earning him around 100,000 euros ($124,000) -- fired rubber bullets of the kind “that could cause serious injuries and kill people”.