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Demonstration against restrictions to stop coronavirus infections in Kassel.ARMANDO BABANI / AFP
Querdenker, the German movement made up of a small army of esoteric fanatics, nationalists, far-right extremists and coronavirus deniers, has officially become, this Wednesday, a danger to the German Constitution.
The Federal Interior Ministry announced that it will be closely monitored by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (
Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz
, BfV), the German internal secret service.
The Interior Ministry's decision will allow BfV agents to monitor individuals and groups within the pandemic denial movement and collect data on certain members of this movement.
In general, the authority fears that the conspiracy theories spread during the protests against the measures taken to fight the coronavirus will continue even after the pandemic ends.
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Since the authorities have not been able to include the movement in any of the categories of previously known phenomena, such as right-wing extremism, left-wing extremism or Islamism, they have created a new legal framework that allows them to subject the movement to surveillance. national when there is a "delegitimization of the State relevant to the protection of the Constitution." The movement is under suspicion for the instrumentalization it has made of the protests against the policies for managing the pandemic. "They often clearly show that their agenda goes beyond mere mobilization to protest against the State's protection measures against the coronavirus pandemic," the Interior Ministry noted.
In several protests such as in Berlin or Stuttgart (south of the country) there have been incidents with the police forces, the protesters have not respected the rules of distancing or the use of masks and some extremists have caused tensions. In one of these concentrations there was even an attempted assault on the Bundestag building carried out by a group of the so-called
Reichsbürger
(Citizens of the Reich), a radical movement that does not recognize the authority or borders of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The ministry points out that possible connections with far-right groups such as Citizens of the Reich will be “taken into account,” who “defend that official provisions be ignored and, ultimately, deny the monopoly of force to the State” because they consider that, In the long term, it can weaken trust in institutions and their representatives.
"Our fundamental democratic order, as well as state institutions such as parliaments and governments, have been exposed to several attacks since the beginning of the measures to contain the covid-19 pandemic," said the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. .
Think different
Querdenker, which can be translated as “think differently” or “transversal thinkers”, is an initiative started in Stuttgart in April 2020 by Michael Ballweg, a 46-year-old computer entrepreneur with no known political affiliation. On its website, the organization describes itself as "nonpartisan", without excluding "no opinion", and defending "the restoration of the Constitution" so that "all democratic media are available again", because it considers that the restrictions linked to covid-19 are undemocratic.
“We are Democrats.
The extreme right, the extreme left, the fascists, the ideologies that despise the human being have no place among us ”you can read on the movement's website, but more and more people with Reich flags appear in their concentrations.
"We cannot prevent isolated people with extremist thoughts from coming to our demonstrations," said Michael Ballweg.
Felix Klein, the head of anti-Semitism in the German government, believes that the spectrum of protests against the restrictions ranges from “esoteric enthusiasts, through naturopaths, pacifists, to those known as
Reichsbürger
and confessed right-wing extremists, who use these demonstrations as a forum. mobilization ”.
Connections have also been found between protests against coronavirus measures and the far-right's largest opposition party in the Bundestag, Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Its members have brought the Merkel Executive's infection protection law on the same level with the National Socialist Enabling Act of 1933, which allowed Hitler to seize absolute power.
Threats of death
Querdenker is also under suspicion for fostering growing hostility towards the media, which is seen as part of what is called a “dictatorial system” that is supposedly hiding behind restrictions imposed by the authorities.
The announcement of closely monitoring the activities of the movement has coincided with the publication of a list that threatens death to all the deputies who approved last week the so-called "emergency brake", which makes it possible to activate restrictive health measures - such as touch curfew and suspension of classes— in places where there is a high incidence of contagion.
According to the newspaper
Der Tagesspiegel
, the list includes the 342 deputies who endorsed with their nominal vote the modification of the Infection Protection Law, which had the support of conservatives and Social Democrats.
The Federal Criminal Police Office has contacted the parliamentary groups of the Bundestag to inform them of the threats, which were published on the social network Telegram.
