Administrative court: AfD may use Halle in Lüneburg for party congress

Created: 05/15/2022 07:33

 The AfD Lower Saxony may hold its state party conference on June 11th and 12th, 2022 in Lüneburg, according to the ruling of the administrative court.

The district of Lüneburg is obliged to let the party use the hall of the LKH Arena in Lüneburg.

(Iconic image) © Daniel Karmann/dpa

The district of Lüneburg is obliged to let the AfD Lower Saxony use the hall of the LKH Arena in Lüneburg.

That is the verdict of the administrative court.

Lüneburg – The Lower Saxony AfD is allowed to hold its state party conference on June 11th and 12th in Lüneburg.

This was announced by the administrative court after a previous court judgment on Thursday (May 12, 2022).

As a result, the district of Lüneburg is obliged to let the right-wing party use the LKH Arena in Lüneburg (file number 1 B 17/22).

The judgment also applies to later alternative dates specified by the party.

At the beginning of the week, the Oldenburg Administrative Court had rejected an application by the AfD Lower Saxony to transfer the Sparkassen-Arena in Aurich, as reported by hna.de.

Administrative court: Lüneburg district must allow AfD use of Halle in Lüneburg

The Lüneburg court justified its judgment with the fact that the AfD state association, as a political party, is entitled to a right of transfer according to the party law and the Basic Law.

Irrespective of its private sponsorship, the LKH-Arena is a public institution, as the district of Lüneburg holds 100 percent of the shares in the operating company.

According to the court, the claim for transfer does not conflict with the fact that the AfD is classified and observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected case.

The prohibition of discrimination only does not apply if the Federal Constitutional Court has declared a party to be unconstitutional.

Fear of counter-demonstrations do not justify refusal

The fear expressed by the district that there could be counter-demonstrations on the occasion of the party congress does not justify refusing the AfD the hall.

The decision of the administrative court is not yet final.

The district of Lüneburg can lodge a complaint with the Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court within two weeks.

(rdg/epd)

In Göttingen, too, the AfD Lower Saxony is said to have tried to influence corona rebels with legal aid tips.

In 2021, the AfD fell victim to an election glitch in Göttingen, in which the party was missing from the electoral lists.