Turkish leftist charged in Germany with extortion, assault

Federal prosecutors in Germany charged Turkish man Hasan Huseyin K., suspected of being the regional leader for a banned militant leftist group, with extortion and assault.

The man is suspected of leading the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front, or DHKP-C, from February 1996 to July 1997 in Cologne and Hamburg. The banned group seeks to institute a Marxist government in Turkey.

He was arrested in June 2004 in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and was turned over to German custody.

While in leading the regional group, the man is suspected of being involved in extortion of donations and assault and battery, prosecutors said in a statement. No further details were immediately available.

The case is to be handled by the state court in Duesseldorf, prosecutors said.

The DHKP-C has been banned as a terror organization in Germany since 1998, the AP reports.