Extremism: Federal Supreme Court is prohibited for “Compact” magazine

The right -wing extremist magazine “Compact” can continue to appear. The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig has lifted the ban that the then Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) issued in the summer of 2024.

The Basic Law even guarantees the “enemies of freedom” freedom of expression and press, the presiding judge Ingo Kraft justified the decision. There are numerous polemical and exhilarated statements. However, the border to anti -constitutional is not exceeded, according to the court.

Court: “Compact” identified with Martin Sellner

At the same time, the 6th Senate made it clear that the “Compact” makers identified with the “remigration concept” by the Austrian right-wing extremist Martin Sellner. For years, his views “without any distancing” have been granted a broad space. The court rated relativizing and trivializing statements by “Compact” editor-in-chief Jürgen Elsässer during the hearing as a “mere process-tactical, non-credible argument”.

Decision from urgent procedure confirmed

The federal judges thus confirmed their decision from the urgent procedure last August. At that time they had temporarily suspended the ban, so that the paper could continue to appear for the time being. Now the responsible 6th Senate has made his final decision in the main proceedings. The Leipzig judges are in the first and last instance for lawsuits against club bans.

Observation through the protection of the constitution

The Federal Ministry of the Interior had banned the magazine and referred to it as the “central mouthpiece of the right -wing extremist scene”. According to the ministry, the “Compact” Magazin GmbH has long been the focus of the constitutional protection and was classified and observed as secured at the end of 2021 as secured.

The media company, founded in 2010, used to be based in the Brandenburg Falkensee, and now sits in Stessen in Saxony-Anhalt. According to the court, the edition of the “Compact” magazine is 40,000 copies, the online TV channel reaches up to 460,000 clicks.

Leipzig court in the first and last instance

The central question was whether statements by the media company are still covered by the press and freedom of expression – or whether they are anti -constitutional and represent a concrete hazard. It was crucial for the evaluation whether unconstitutional content is formative for “compact”.