analysis
The Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia has handed down its verdict: The AfD’s appeal has been rejected; the classification as a “suspected case” was legal. What follows from this?
The decision was clear: appeal rejected. The AfD is defeated before the Higher Administrative Court (OVG). There are sufficient factual indications “that the party is pursuing efforts that are directed against the human dignity of certain groups of people and against the principle of democracy.”
By this the Senate means above all: people with a migration history, foreigners who live in Germany and German citizens. There is a well-founded suspicion that “it corresponds to the political objectives of at least a significant part of the AfD” to only grant the latter a legally devalued status.
No first or second class citizens
But that is precisely what does not correspond to the Basic Law. Because that doesn’t recognize first or second class citizens. In addition, the party’s statements indicate a disregard for the human dignity of refugees and Muslims. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution presented several thousand pieces of evidence to the court. They were enough for the Senate to justify classifying it as a suspected case. The Cologne Administrative Court had already made the same decision in the first instance.
The OVG emphasized today that this procedure was all about the power to take a very close look. So it’s about whether there is sufficient evidence to initially justify suspicion. Mere speculation or assumptions without a factual basis are not enough.
The presiding judge illustrated this with an example: If the police are called to an apartment in which a smoke detector sounds an alarm and no one opens the door, then the police are allowed to enter the apartment. Because legal interests of great value – life and limb – are threatened. If it then turns out that there is no fire at all, the police will have to leave the apartment again, but the previous suspicion will not change. And the smoke detector of democracy, to stay with the metaphor, just went off – referring to the AfD.
No automatic progression to the next higher classification
The classification as a suspected case means that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is generally allowed to use intelligence resources – for example, they can recruit undercover agents, paid informants from the party’s environment.
However, according to the court, there is expressly no automatic mechanism according to which a classification of the entire party in the next higher level of “certain extremist endeavor” is inevitable. If the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution takes this step in the future, the AfD can defend itself against it in new proceedings.
The Higher Administrative Court did not allow the appeal to the Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig. From a purely legal perspective, today’s judgment has no particular significance. It also does not deviate from different decisions of the Federal Administrative Court. The political and social relevance, i.e. the discussion value, plays no role in the approval of the revision.
The verdict is bitter for the AfD
However, the AfD can still file a non-admission complaint and try to open the way to Leipzig after all. Initial statements indicate that the party will probably choose this path. What else does she have to do?
The verdict is bitter for the AfD: it has long been trying to accuse the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of acting purely politically in order to fight the AfD as a strong opposition party. However, the ruling of the administrative court in Cologne was so clearly in favor of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution that this narrative began to crack.
Now the next instance: Another fair trial, another independent court and again the AfD conspiracy theory is refuted. They sensed this in the party. Right from the beginning of the negotiation, it was clear from the top management that they did not believe in a positive outcome for them. For a long time, the AfD was about playing for time.
Party wanted to delay verdict
The idea: No more judgment before the European elections. On the one hand, this could cost votes, especially in the western federal states, where the verdict of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution would be taken more seriously, according to the AfD. On the other hand, there are indications that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution could go one step further after a successful procedure, i.e. classify the entire party as definitely right-wing extremist. This should also be prevented if possible before the European elections.
But then on the fifth day of the trial the judges in Münster rejected all 470 applications for evidence as irrelevant, and the verdict could no longer be postponed forever.
Poll numbers have not collapsed
And something else has happened since then: Research first suggested that Russian money could have flowed to top AfD candidates for the European elections. Then a suspected Chinese spy was arrested by the top candidate himself. For some in the AfD, that’s enough of the bad news, so there’s no need to put anything off anymore; it’s better to get the next slap. “It can’t get any worse than this,” says some of the federal executive board. “People can’t hear that anymore anyway,” the other person belittled.
Whether it’s the disaster surrounding the top candidates or the next lost court case: the AfD’s poll numbers have actually fallen in recent months, but there is no sign of a slump so far. Especially since it is unclear to what extent the new competition from the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance is also costing votes. It seems as if the AfD has developed a large base of voters who support it regardless of extreme tendencies – or perhaps because of that.
New Conspiracy stories the AfD
It is therefore not surprising that the party is reacting to the judgment in Münster with new conspiracy stories – what cannot be allowed to happen cannot be allowed to happen. The deputy chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group, Beatrix von Storch, writes of a “trial simulation” and even of an “unjust judgment.”
Your colleague from the parliamentary group board, Sebastian Münzenmaier, seamlessly follows up on the old, refuted story and continues to contemptuously refer to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as “government protection”. The AfD state leader from Saxony-Anhalt, Martin Reichart, writes about “submissive judges”. The list goes on. As if the seven long days of negotiations hadn’t existed.
defense of Constitution checked Reasons for the judgment
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution will take all of this seriously. It will probably be included in further reports – because the contempt for the democratic order, the rule of law, is also a reason for the AfD’s observation.
In his initial reaction to the verdict, the President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Thomas Haldenwang, did not give any indication as to whether the AfD could soon be upgraded to “certain right-wing extremism”. Some experts have been assuming exactly this for a long time. According to media reports, the necessary report is already in progress at the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
Haldenwang simply explained that it is legally required to check the classification at regular intervals and that this can result in an upgrading. Before taking any further steps, his office wanted to wait for the written reasons for the judgment and check them. It will take a few weeks until this is available.