Neo-Nazi posters: Call for murder as alleged campaign aid

“Hang the Greens” – posters with this slogan are allowed to continue to be used by a neo-Nazi party for the time being. “The III. Way” refers to the fact that it is not a call for murder at all. But how credible is that?

The controversial hate posters of the neo-Nazi party “Der III. Weg” in the Saxon town of Zwickau have to be According to a court order not be removed for the time being. The election posters with the imprint “Hang the Greens!” The administrative court in Chemnitz announced that they should be installed at a distance of at least 100 meters from the campaigns for the Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen party. This was preceded by an urgent application from the neo-Nazis.

Christoph Kehlbach from der explains the background to the decision ARD legal editorsThe dispute over the admissibility of borderline statements on election posters is not new. Legally, parties could invoke the right to freedom of expression. In the election campaign in particular, the opinion campaign should also be conducted “with hard bells”, emphasizes Kehlbach. Because of the constitutionally protected role of the parties, the hurdles are high when it comes to prohibiting certain election posters.

Can you clearly understand?

Nevertheless, explains the legal expert, there are limits to the right to freedom of expression – if a statement, for example, constitutes an offense of sedition or a public invitation to commit criminal offenses.

According to the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court, a prerequisite for any legal assessment of statements is that their meaning has been correctly captured, emphasizes Kehlbach. The decisive factor is therefore the objective meaning of the statement in question according to the understanding of an impartial and discreet audience.

Therefore, in the specific case, it depends on whether the label “Hang the Greens” could be understood differently than a call to hang Green politicians or voters. “The III. Way” refers in a small printed note to the fact that the election posters themselves are green and that it is only a matter of hanging them up.

The question now, says Kehlbach, is how the courts assess this addition: As a serious request for poster help or as an excuse to keep an alleged legal loophole open? In doing so, the courts should also take into account that the election posters are already hanging or that they are usually not hung by the voters, but rather by the active party members and supporters. The fact that these posters were placed in the immediate vicinity of green election posters may also play a role.

“Voucher for departure” sent

According to their own account, the neo-Nazis use similar posters in the current election campaign – for example with the inscription “Reserved for traitors” – an allusion to hanging political opponents on lanterns.

The fact that “Der III. Weg” tries to provoke scandals in a targeted manner is not new. As early as 2016, the neo-Nazis had sent postcards to politicians as a “voucher for all foreigners who advocated foreign immigration to Africa”. A local member of the Greens from Rhineland-Palatinate, who received such a postcard, went to court and demanded 2000 euros from the party for a boat trip. The neo-Nazis withdrew that it was merely a satirical reaction.

Neo-Nazi milieu

The background of the party shows that such slogans are not just supposedly satirical actions, but that neo-Nazis specifically flirt with violence and the slogans must be understood as a threat: “Der III. Weg” was founded in 2013 by a former NPD -Mann as a collecting tank for neo-Nazis, especially in southern Germany, Thuringia and Saxony. The security authorities warned of intellectual arsonists who aggressively agitate against asylum seekers and refugee homes.

In 2015 the party disseminated a guide to prevent or prevent the establishment of “an asylum seekers’ home in my neighborhood”. On more than 20 pages, the neo-Nazis explained in detail how to set up and network an “anti-asylum initiative” and what legal options there are to sue against planned accommodation. Sample letters, for example to register demonstrations, can also be found in the guide. It gives way ARD research in addition, in the case of several arson attacks on planned refugee accommodation, references to “III.Weg”.

The party now has around 600 members and is also active in North Rhine-Westphalia, where it was able to open a party office. In Olpe, members of the party are due in early September have been therewhen a CSD parade was disrupted. Otherwise the party is mainly active in Saxony and Bavaria, as the election campaign activities show.

Terror trial in Munich

It was not until July that an alternative practitioner was convicted in Bavaria who had taken part in the party’s marches – also as a steward. According to the verdict, Susanne G. had prepared, among other things, a terrorist attack on public officials or Muslims. Their goal was therefore to create a climate of fear. According to the ruling, she previously sent death threats and ammunition to local politicians and a mosque association.

SPD criticized approval

In view of the party’s background, the SPD had sharply criticized the right-wing extremist party’s admission to the federal election. “This is a party that is organized on a paramilitary basis and is even further to the right than the NPD,” said SPD parliamentary director Carsten Schneider in July on RTL / ntv.

The party has a “neo-Nazi and fascist ideology”. The party is probably concerned with establishing itself through the party financing system and thus making it recognizable in the political spectrum.