The proceedings continue today in Münster to determine whether the AfD could be classified as a suspected right-wing extremist case. The party is trying to delay the process – possibly until after the European elections.
The symbolism will not be quite as opulent this time: While the first two days of negotiations took place in the impressive foyer of the Higher Administrative Court in Münster, the proceedings will now continue in a functional meeting room.
In addition to the originally planned two meeting days, 13 more have now been added. When the appeal process began in mid-March, it became clear early on that the cases being heard would require more time.
In three cases, the AfD is defending itself against classifications by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In addition to the assessment as a suspected right-wing extremist case, negotiations are also underway as to whether the youth organization “Junge Alternative” (JA) is a suspected case. In addition, there are the assessments of the now disbanded so-called “wing” around the Thuringian state leader Björn Höcke, which was ultimately even rated as a “secure right-wing extremist effort”.
“Those in the East don’t care”
The AfD’s tactic in the appeal process that was underway was to delay the process to a certain extent. Their lawyers initially announced over 200 new requests for evidence, but according to the court the number has now grown to 457. There were also several applications for bias against the Senate judges – all of which were rejected as “abuse of law”.
The fact that the AfD is playing for time is also related to the European elections – they are trying to delay a possible decision until after the vote in June. The party fears that a possible confirmation as a suspected case could cost votes in the West.
“Those in the East, on the other hand, don’t care what the Office for the Protection of the Constitution does,” says a high-ranking official from a West German state association, referring to the state elections in the East in the fall. In contrast to the European elections, there are no fears in the East of the consequences of observing the party.
“If we had behaved kindly, we would have been convicted by now,” said the AfD representative in the trial, Roman Reusch, to journalists. However, the former public prosecutor and AfD member of the Bundestag also attested to the court that the judges were listening “and not acting as if they were listening and just waiting for when it would finally be over.”
Three party members as witnesses
In the proceedings so far there have also been hints from the Senate. A judge read out older judgments according to which statements by party members, which are covered by freedom of expression, could lead to an institution being unconstitutional. In advance of the proceedings, the lawyers from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution presented a further 4,200 pages of documents and 116 hours of video material, which are said to reveal a basic ethnic tendency within the AfD.
The AfD lawyers countered this with three party members as witnesses. They all had a migrant background and reported that they had not experienced any racism in the party. AfD representative Reusch attributed the fact that there were still “derailments” within the party to a certain potential of his party as a regular. There are “simple people who have a simple educational background” in the party. According to Reusch, they would often also speak “Blech”.
Negotiation could run until July
The lawyers for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, on the other hand, referred, among other things, to statements by the Thuringian state leader Björn Höcke. In two cases, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had to admit that it had received information from people it trusted. However, the so-called informants are not leaders from federal or state associations of the party, according to the representative of the Federal Office.
It will also be interesting to see who represents the AfD before the Higher Administrative Court. The top candidate for the European elections, Maximilian Krah, replaces the ill Roman Reusch. A court spokeswoman confirmed this WDR on demand. “Zeit Online” first reported. Krah himself is likely to be the subject of the proceedings on many points – especially because of statements about a supposed “population exchange” through migration.
As things currently stand, the negotiation could run until the beginning of July, although a decision could also be made earlier. This will probably depend on whether the AfD will be assessed as a “secure right-wing extremist effort” in the future, since the hearing before the Higher Administrative Court is at least the last instance where the content of the allegations against the AfD will be discussed and decided.