BERLIN: A group of radical Islamists will face trial in Germany for forming “haria police” street patrols that told people to stop drinking, gambling and listening to music, a court said on Tuesday.

The ultra-conservative Muslim group around German Salafist convert Sven Lau sparked public anger with their vigilante patrols in 2014 in the western city of Wuppertal.

A city court last December said the group would not face charges -- but a higher court has now overturned that decision, announcing that eight members of the group could face trial, without setting a date.

It sided with state prosecutors who had argued the group’s orange vests with the words “Sharia Police” on them constituted a violation of a ban on uniforms at public rallies. The state high court in Duesseldorf also found that the law — which is aimed against militant street movements such as the early Nazi party — could be applied in this case.

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2016