Trial against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution
AfD wants to delay proceedings – court rejects applications
March 12, 2024, 12:17 p.m
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There is a lot at stake for the AfD. The Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia is supposed to decide whether the party can be observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution using intelligence means. It rejects a request to postpone the proceedings.
At the beginning of the party’s appeal process against the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the AfD tried in vain with several applications to prevent a quick decision on its classification as a suspected right-wing extremist case. Even before the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster entered into the contentious dispute, the party’s lawyer called for an adjournment. It was not possible to respond to the approximately 4,200 pages of documents and 116 hours of video material submitted in January in such a short time, said Christian Conrad. The lawyer also requested access to reports on the AfD from Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt as well as a new assessment of the entire party by the Federal Office that has not yet been published.
These applications were rejected, as were the AfD’s objections to the appointment of the Senate. In the morning, observers had to leave the courtroom because the AfD wanted to exclude the public in order to clarify the content. A representative of the Federal Office emphasized in court that his agency’s new assessment of the AfD was not final – “there is no finished report.”
The 5th Senate should clarify whether the ruling 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.
Exclude “strangers” as much as possible
At that time, the Cologne court referred to reports and material collections from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Activities of the youth organization were also included in the evaluation. An ethnically understood concept of the people is a central political goal both in the formally dissolved wing and in the JA. According to this, the German people must be preserved in their ethnic structure and “foreigners” must be excluded as far as possible. This contradicts the concept of the people in the Basic Law. There are also statements in which accusations of “repopulation” and “national death” are made. In addition, xenophobic agitation can be seen. From the party leadership, former Bundestag member Roman Reusch and Federal Treasurer Carsten Hütter were in court in Münster.
The court has scheduled a second day of hearings for Wednesday. It is unclear when there will be a verdict. In the event that the AfD loses, the party’s deputy federal chairman, Peter Boehringer, announced on Deutschlandfunk that he would appeal. However, the Federal Administrative Court would only examine the OVG’s decision for possible legal errors. Questions about content no longer play a role there.
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.
No request for a ban
The proceedings are not about banning a party. The Bremen government factions – SPD, Greens and Left – are seeking possible ban proceedings against the AfD. The Bremen Senate should campaign for this at the federal level, the parliamentary groups announced last week. Only the Federal Constitutional Court can decide on a ban – after an application from the Bundestag, Bundesrat or Federal Government.
In Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the respective regional association as having a proven right-wing extremist tendency. This now also applies to the JA and was confirmed by the Cologne Administrative Court. The AfD also wants to defend itself legally. However, this is not the subject of the proceedings in Münster.