AfD in Thuringia excludes all journalists from election party

The Thuringian AfD does not want to allow any journalists at its election party for the state elections on Sunday. The deputy spokesman of the AfD state association, Torben Braga, confirmed this in the evening when asked as a consequence of a ruling by the Erfurt regional court. The MDR had previously reported. According to the broadcaster, journalists will be able to interview AfD party and parliamentary group representatives in the Thuringian state parliament on Sunday evening.

Court rules in favor of media companies suing

One day before election Sunday, the Erfurt Regional Court ruled that the AfD had to allow several journalists to enter its election party for the Thuringia election, whom it had wanted to deny access to. The court ruled in favor of media companies that had filed suit, saying that freedom of the press was being threatened. The ruling was not yet final. The AfD could also have defended itself legally at the Higher Regional Court.

The news magazine “Der Spiegel”, the Springer brands “Bild” and “Welt” and the daily newspaper “Taz” had jointly turned to the regional court to challenge the exclusion of their journalists from the AfD election party, which they wanted to report on. Central election parties held by parties on election day are traditionally important meeting points for journalists. They capture the mood surrounding the election results there and conduct interviews – often many prominent representatives of a party are on site.

On Sunday, the people of Thuringia will elect a new state parliament. The AfD is running with top candidate Björn Höcke. In recent polls, the party is in first place with values ​​of around 30 percent. The state’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies the Thuringian AfD as definitely right-wing extremist.

This is how the judge justifies the verdict against the AfD

The presiding judge Christoph von Friesen justified the verdict by saying, among other things, that the election party was not a thank-you event for election workers and party friends, but rather had an “informational character”. The fact that the AfD had already admitted other media representatives to the party meant that it had been opened up. The party must therefore also allow other media representatives to attend. The right to do so cannot be “limitless” in cramped premises. However, in order to ensure a fair selection of media representatives, the party should have previously transparently communicated an accreditation process according to certain specifications, as the judge further explained.

Braga had stated that as of Saturday morning, around 150 media representatives wanted to register for the election party. However, the capacity at the location, which has so far been kept secret, only allowed a total of 200 participants, and 50 media representatives had already received confirmation.

Why there was an oral hearing

The regional court had scheduled the oral hearing because the AfD had appealed against an identical emergency ruling made by the court a week ago. The Constitutional Court of Thuringia had since determined that the party should have been given a legal hearing before the emergency ruling. This has now happened.

In a second case, the regional court ruled that another complaining journalist must be allowed to attend the election party. The Constitutional Court had previously reprimanded the regional court because it had given the AfD a deadline of September 2nd – after election day – to comment on the case. However, according to the Constitutional Court, the decision must be made before the election party – which is what has now happened.