Is the classification of the AfD as a “suspected extremist case” legal?
The Münster OVG is supposed to make the decision, but a verdict is not yet in sight.
Update from March 13th, 6:27 p.m.:
After two days of negotiations, the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia will not announce any judgments on Wednesday in the appeal process in the AfD's dispute with the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV).
It is still unclear when the negotiation will continue.
The court announced this in the evening.
After repeated deliberations by the 5th Senate following numerous applications from the AfD, the court was unable to end the program for the oral hearing on the second day either.
The OVG had not planned any further appointments.
Update from March 13th, 3:05 p.m
.: The lawyer for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Wolfgang Roth, has now accused the AfD of delaying the process.
With ever new requests for evidence, the desire to exclude the public and postpone the proceedings, the AfD in Münster is delaying the hearing.
The AfD's lawyers rejected the accusation - however, Michael Fengler and Christian Conrad submitted several almost identical requests to name witnesses, in which only the names of Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution were exchanged.
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AfD trial in Münster: the party's two lawyers, Michael Fengler (l.) and Christian Conrad
© Guido Kirchner/dpa
AfD trial: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution gives a figure for information provided by informants
Update from March 13th, 10:55 a.m
.: On today's second day of negotiations in Münster, the AfD's lawyers tried to elicit details from the domestic secret service about its information gathering methods.
This involved the use of virtual agents and so-called informants - informants from the party's environment.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) declared on Tuesday evening that “only two of the several thousand pieces of evidence” that had been submitted to the court “contain statements or behavior from human sources of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.”
Today, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution emphasized that its evidence on the AfD came mainly from speeches and social media posts by elected officials and officials.
Yesterday's day of negotiations ended after eleven hours.
It is still unclear whether there will be any decisions today.
The top staff of the AfD: coming and going
The top staff of the AfD: coming and going
Classification as a “suspected right-wing extremist case” is legal?
AfD's first complaint unsuccessful
First report
: Münster – It is a groundbreaking procedure because it concerns the classification of the AfD by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
The party had called for a postponement at the start on Tuesday (March 12th) - but the Senate of the Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster (NRW) has already rejected this.
The AfD's lawyer justified his request as follows: 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 lawyer Christian Conrad.
AfD before the OVG Münster – judgment with consequences expected
At its core, the process is about the question of whether the AfD as a whole party can be listed as a suspected right-wing extremist case.
In March 2022, the Cologne Administrative Court dismissed a lawsuit filed against it by the AfD in the first instance.
Classification as a suspected case would have far-reaching consequences for the AfD.
Then secret service means of observation could be used against them, such as surveillance and undercover agents.
The three appeal proceedings pending before the OVG also concern the classification of the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative (JA) and the now officially dissolved so-called “wing” as suspected cases - in the case of the wing also the classification as a “certain extremist” effort .
The AfD decision also sent a signal in the ban debate
After the AfD was first classified as a so-called test case in 2019, the entire party was upgraded to a suspected case of right-wing extremism in March 2021.
The focus is also on the expected decision because of its possible signal effect on the debate about banning the AfD.
However, it is also likely to have consequences for the further action of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
According to a report in the
Süddeutsche Zeitung,
the Federal Office is already working on a report on a possible classification of the entire AfD as a “secure extremist effort”.
So far, the AfD state associations in Thuringia, Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony have been classified this way by the respective state constitutional protection agencies.
New state parliaments will be elected in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in autumn.
In the three countries, the AfD was recently in the lead in polls - although there are now signs of a downturn in the polls.
Two days were scheduled for the oral hearing in Münster.
A verdict could be reached by Wednesday (March 13th) at the latest.
According to current research, the AfD is said to employ more than 100 people from the right-wing extremist spectrum in the Bundestag - also financed by taxpayers' money.
(AFP/dpa/frs)
Category list image: © Guido Kirchner/dpa