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.
With several applications in the party’s appeal against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the AfD tried 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. Following requests from the AfD to postpone the proceedings and bias against individual judges, the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court rejected another request to reject the entire Senate on Tuesday.
Presiding judge accuses AfD of abuse of law
The presiding judge Gerald Buck accused the AfD of abusing the law. The party did not present any new arguments. The request was made across the board and obviously without any basis.
In the morning, observers had to leave the courtroom because the AfD wanted to exclude media representatives and spectators for a certain point that concerned content that was not intended for the public. The Senate did not follow this.
A representative of the Federal Office emphasized in court that his agency’s new assessment of the AfD was not yet 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.
Ethnic folk term
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.
Judgment date still open
The court has scheduled a second day of hearings for Wednesday. It was initially unclear when there would be a verdict.
Before the start of the negotiations, the deputy AfD federal chairman, Peter Boehringer, answered the question on Deutschlandfunk about how the party would deal with a defeat. Given the scope of the questions to be clarified, a decision after a maximum of two days of oral negotiations would alone be reason enough for a revision. 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, the SPD, the Greens and the 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.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
