Much of what is discussed in administrative courts does not exactly have the reputation of moving the republic. In Cologne it is currently different: there the AfD is suing the protection of the constitution.
Is the AfD a threat to democracy? The administrative court in Cologne has been dealing with this question since Tuesday. In an oral hearing, the court will deal with several lawsuits filed by the AfD against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which is based in Cologne. Probably the most important question is whether the Office for the Protection of the Constitution may classify the entire party as a suspected case or right-wing extremist effort and monitor it accordingly.
Visually, it has something of a theatrical performance when the representatives of the administrative court enter the room. The lawyers take their places on a kind of stage, with a heavy curtain behind them. The room is laid out with a fine red carpet, huge lamps hanging from the ceiling, reminiscent of chandeliers.
It quickly becomes clear that this Tuesday morning is not about a production. “The plaintiff is a political party represented in the German Bundestag, in all 16 German state parliaments and in the European Parliament”, the first lecture begins. Maximum legal sobriety – in the face of an explosive procedure.
The AfD, a suspected case or not?
It deals with four lawsuits filed by the AfD. In order to enable appropriate publicity despite Corona, the hearing has been moved to a large hall at the Cologne exhibition center. AfD boss Tino Chrupalla sits in the front row. However, the AfD lawyer Christian Conrad usually has the floor.
First of all, it is about the so-called wing of the AfD. Since March 2020, the network around the Thuringian AfD head of state Björn Höcke, which has meanwhile been formally dissolved, has been observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a right-wing extremist effort. The AfD is suing against the classification as a suspected case or as a “secured right-wing extremist endeavor”.
The protection of the constitution also argues with statements by former AfD party leader Jörg Meuthen. His exit from the party shows that the so-called wing within the party is gaining ground more and more. Efforts to limit the influence of the wing failed. Months before leaving the party, Meuthen had made it clear that he no longer wanted to be held responsible for AfD MPs and officials who had made radical statements.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution stated in its briefs, among other things “ongoing agitation against Muslims” as well as the depiction of migrants as “invaders”. The view is widespread that the population of Germany must be preserved in its current ethnic composition. The lawyer for the protection of the constitution, Wolfgang Roth, quotes sentences from “wing”-Founder Björn Höcke. There is no doubt that leading protagonists of the wing are ethnically minded.
Office for the Protection of the Constitution not sure whether “wing” still exists
The AfD denies the allegations. The claim that “wing” keep being active, be “baseless”. Meuthen’s statements today are “unbelievable”, since it is guided by its own interests. The AfD has initiated party exclusion proceedings against individual extremists. Of course, not every statement – every “derailment” – of a member are consistently attributed to the whole party. In addition, be the “wing” not only been Höcke.
The political scientist Hajo Funke says that the ethnic wing of the party has steadily gained influence in the AfD in recent years. Chrupalla, honorary chairman Alexander Gauland and Höcke now have a free hand in the AfD – “there are no longer any serious efforts to achieve a course correction”.
Judge Michael Huschens makes it clear that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution “early warning system” may be. A well-fortified democracy should not wait until “the child in the well” had fallen. Nevertheless, the court does not seem certain to what extent the wing can still be regarded as a merger today. “We have not been able to gather this certainty from your pleadings”, he says in the direction of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. AfD lawyer Conrad argues: “The wing is no more.”
Lawyer for the protection of the constitution Roth explains that it is actually an open question whether the “wing” still exists as a group of people – or whether it is diffused into the party, so to speak. This question has not yet been finally clarified. However, there were certainly events that participants and journalists considered “wing events” would have classified. Live as an ideology “wing” in the AfD anyway and play a decisive role there.
It is still unclear when the court will announce a decision on the four subject areas of the proceedings.
Source: Stern
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