Start of negotiations
AfD against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Court hearing started
Because of the large number of people involved in the process and around 100 registered journalists, the OVG moved to the entrance hall of the court. The court itself keeps all 15,000-page files digitally. photo
© Guido Kirchner/dpa
In a year with European and state elections, a decision on the AfD will be made in the next few days in Münster at the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court. It’s about the assessment by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
In the dispute over the classification of the AfD through the Office for the Protection of the Constitution began an appeal process on Tuesday before the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court. At the oral hearing, the 5th Senate will clarify whether the judgment from the lower instance at the Cologne Administrative Court stands.
The Federal Office (BfV), based in Cologne, had classified the party and the youth organization Junge Alternative (JA) as suspected right-wing extremist cases. The judges in Cologne confirmed this view in 2022. Since then, the party and the JA have been allowed to be monitored using intelligence means. The OVG must now clarify whether the assessment is legal according to the Federal Constitutional Protection Act.
The two party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla did not appear in Münster on the first day of the negotiations due to the Bundestag session week in Berlin. Former Bundestag member Roman Reusch and Federal Treasurer Carsten Hütter traveled from the Federal Executive Board. The court has scheduled a second day of hearings for Wednesday. It was still unclear on Tuesday morning when there would be a verdict.
The start of the negotiations was accompanied by protests against the AfD in the city center of Münster. The police had cordoned off a large area of the court building.