The Stasi records authority has apparently researched documents on members and officials of the largest German journalists' union.
This is evident from internal documents that are available to BuzzFeed News and over-media.
The authority behaved like the "Stasi 2.0", says the lawyer of one of the victims.
The journalists' association speaks of a "file affair" and demands clarification immediately.
As BuzzFeed News Deutschland * reports, unlawful media requests were processed in the authority as legitimate requests.
In one specific case, the application came from BILD: Initially, it comprised 20 people.
It was expanded again and again, even by the authority's clerk himself.
In the end, 164 people were affected.
Documents from the Stasi records authority were then searched for these people.
The authority illegally gave BILD more than 1000 pages with partly private information on 15 people.
Particularly explosive: Most of the people affected belonged to the German Association of Journalists DJV, so they are either active or former journalists or trade unionists.
After researching BuzzFeed News and the media, even Roland Jahn, the head of the authorities, interfered in the scandal.
DJV speaks of a "file affair", the Stasi authorities admit processes
The agency admitted the incident to BuzzFeed News and Übermedien.
The facts have been clarified.
BILD and rbb denied having researched the largest German journalists' union with their applications.
The German Association of Journalists spoke in a press release on Monday of a "file affair" and called for comprehensive clarification.
First, the Berliner Zeitung reported on the affair on Saturday.
Just like scientists, editorial offices are also allowed to receive documents under the Stasi Records Act if they want to use them to explain the work of the MfS.
Just wanting to check someone for a Stasi suspicion is not enough.
The application must therefore have a topic and be justified.
It seems questionable whether this has always been done sufficiently here - at least if one believes the “technical supervisory examination” that was carried out by the Stasi records authority itself. The document is in BuzzFeed News and Over Media and it is a resounding slap in the face of the agency's practice. Because when processing applications, the authority has to behave like an archive. That was obviously not the case here, as internal documents show.
An application for an extension was "only made after the clerk had knowledge of the file content".
A clerk even included 60 people himself in the process, about which there are "considerable concerns" in the authority.
In addition, there is an "increased obligation to examine" for applications with which several people are queried.
Instead, even family members were "not allowed to be included in the application processing by the authorities".
Expert opinion of the Stasi authorities: "investigative character of the initial application"
All of this confirms the “investigative character of the initial application.
(...) The permanent short-term submission of people confirms the presumption of investigation and verification. "
The Stasi records authority writes on request that the process was "intensively debated and evaluated with the head of the department at the time, the clerk and the fundamental department who carried out this check".
When asked why all this was not noticed earlier in view of the numerous subsequent applications and the obvious trawling process, the authority writes that it is customary to carry out the work of the MfS in a certain social area by examining several names.
And since many journalists are in the DJV, that is not a problem either.
Those affected were not informed because the internal reviews remained internal.
The applicant was informed of the legal situation "one and a half years after the publication".
Those affected by the DJV reserve the right to take legal action against the Stasi authorities
It is questionable whether this will calm those affected.
One of them: Bernd Lammel.
The photojournalist was chairman of the DJV Berlin in 2015 when the "Abendschau" reported on allegations of the Stasi: Since 1984, Lammel has been listed in the Stasi under the name IM "Michael" - but without his knowledge, as he affirmed on oath.
According to the documents, the Stasi documents were sent to the rbb as early as 2010.
The contribution was only sent five years later, the day before an important election: the DJV federal chairman.
The rbb assures that both the broadcast date and the content-related work on the topic were editorially independent and without conflicts of interest.
Those affected by the DJV reserve the right to take legal action against the Stasi records authority. * BuzzFeed News is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
The editorial staff of BuzzFeed News Germany regularly reports on abuse of power, corruption and structural problems. You can reach the editors with information or documents at recherche@buzzfeed.de.