In a crackdown on the right-wing AfD party, a German court sided with Germany’s internal intelligence service, saying the service was justified in its decision to label the party a “suspicious entity”.
Tuesday’s decision dismisses the AfD’s lawsuit against the German Constitutional Protection Office, whose duties include monitoring extremist groups within Germany.
Labeling the AfD as a suspect allows the service to use intelligence gathering tools, such as whistleblowers, to track the party. In practice, however, there are additional legal disputes that need to be resolved before such tools can be implemented.
What did the court find?
The AfD has repeatedly condemned German government officials and the media for branding them extremists, especially the entire party, which was first described as a suspicious entity as a whole about a year ago.
However, the court found that members of the right-wing AfD party showed “sufficient real evidence” of unconstitutional tendencies. The judges focused on the controversial AfD “Wing” (Flügel) faction, which officially disbanded two years ago, saying its leaders continued to wield considerable influence in the AfD. He also pointed out the youth organization of the JA party and its activities.
The court found that for both groups, the primary political goal was to understand German nationality, which has its roots in nationality. This is the belief that the Germans “should be kept in their ethnic status and the” foreigners “should be excluded as much as possible”, the court found, while also showing “xenophobic unrest”. He said such ideas were contrary to Germany’s constitutional definition.
At the same time, the court partially acknowledged two of the party’s allegations, saying there was not enough evidence for the agency to say the faction was a “definitely extremist attempt” and that it was unclear whether the “Wing” had 7,000 members. . as claimed by the intelligence service.
How will AfD react?
The court decision can be appealed and the party noted that it will consider legal remedies.
Commenting on the decision, one of AfD co-chairs, Tino Chrupalla, said he was surprised by the court’s attitude.
“We do not share the court’s view,” he said. “We will wait for the court’s written explanation of the verdict and then we will decide whether to take further legal action.”
The AfD secured 10.3% of the vote in last September’s parliamentary elections, more than 2% less than in the previous 2017 election cycle. to resign in January saying he had slipped too far to the right.
dj / msh (dpa, AFP, Reuters)
Add Comment