Thousands of protesters massed in the eastern German city of Dresden on Sunday to mark the second anniversary of the anti-migrant and Islamophobic movement Pegida.
He has infamously referred to refugees as "cattle" and "scum", but now Pegida leader Lutz Bachmann might feel some sympathy, after "persecution" has forced him to flee to the Spanish colonial remnant of Tenerife off the coast of West Africa.
The founder of Germany's xenophobic and anti-Islamic PEGIDA movement will appear in court Tuesday on hate speech charges for branding refugees "cattle" and "scum" on social media.
Just four weeks after announcing his resignation in the wake of a Hitler selfie scandal, the founder of the anti-Islam movement Pegida has been voted back into leadership.
Lutz Bachmann, founder of anti-Islam movement Pegida, said on Monday that the group was ready to choose a candidate to run for Dresden city hall in June.
After the departure of their leader apparent over a photo of him styled as Adolf Hitler, more members of the central core of Germany's anti-Islamisation movement are leaving the flock, including its most recognisable face.
New ire has come from the leader of anti-Islam movement Pegida after newspapers revealed on Wednesday that he once posted a picture of himself dressed as Adolf Hitler captioned: "He's back".
UPDATE: A spokesperson has said that Monday's cancellation of Germany's anti-Islamic Pegida movement on Monday, was not the end of the ogranisation. A death threat against organizers from the Islamic State jihadist group was confirmed on Sunday.
They've grown from a small Facebook community to a worldwide phenomenon. Sabine Devins looks at Pegida's rise to prominence and what it is they really stand for as the movement spreads across Europe.
