GERMAN LEADER: HITLER WAS GREAT

German far-right leader: Hitler was great
Berlin prosecutors said Monday they are investigating the leader of a far-right party after he labeled present-day Germany an "illegitimate system" and described Adolf Hitler as a "great German statesman" in an interview. National Democratic Party leader Udo Voigt is being investigated for possible charges of denigrating the state and its symbols, said Michael Grunwald, a spokesman for prosecutors.

Voigt made his comments in an interview last week with the far-right weekly Junge Freiheit. He was quoted as arguing that "there is no legitimate constitution that we could violate" and that "without a doubt, Hitler was a great German statesman." Germany's highest court last year threw out a government attempt to ban the far-right party on claims it and its skinhead supporters were responsible for inspiring hate crimes. Last weekend, the party capitalized on discontent over cuts to the welfare state to win 9.2 percent of the vote in a state election in the eastern state of Saxony.