26 Men Go On Trial In Germany For Forming National Socialist Group

A group of 26 German alleged national socialists went on trial under tight security.

Prosecutors charged 20 of the men with establishing a "criminal group", while the other six were accused of helping its activities. Police broke up the group with raids in four states earlier this year. The group, which called itself the Mid-Rhine Operations Office, was "anti-democratic and extremist", the indictment said. The group collected names and addresses of possible leftists and secretly monitored them, prosecutors said. The trial, in the western city of Koblenz, is expected to continue into next month.