The designation could allow Germany’s intelligence agency to surveil and investigate members of the far-right party. The AfD says it plans to appeal the ruling.
A higher regional court in western Germany rejected on Monday an appeal by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party against its classification as a “suspected” far-right extremist organization.
The judges at the court in Münster said the designation was appropriate and did not violate the constitution or European law.
“The court finds there is sufficient evidence that the AfD pursues goals that run against the human dignity of certain groups and against democracy,” they wrote.
So, why are they still allowed to run in elections?
Because the hurdles for being banned are intentionally very very high.
Oh, and the authority in question (Verfassungsschutz) had a head who’s a bona fide Nazi. So the agency to protect the constitution from (right wing) extremists was led by a right wing extremist.
That’s a huge part of the reason why it took so long to put out that official classification: They made sure that their classification would hold up in court. No one is served by getting it in a bit earlier, just for it to be thrown out at the first level of court, because someone got a bit lazy on collecting all the evidence and writing up a thorough report.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“The court finds there is sufficient evidence that the AfD pursues goals that run against the human dignity of certain groups and against democracy,” they wrote.
“There are grounds to suspect at least part of the party wants to accord second-rank status to German citizens with a migration background.”
The status makes it easier for the domestic intelligence agency BfV to investigate and surveil AfD members or recruit informants from within the organization.
The AfD is topping opinion polls in several eastern states, such as Saxony, that are due to hold elections later this year.
The party has increasingly come under scrutiny from government agencies amid allegations linking it to espionage on behalf of Russia and China.
“It remains to be seen if this decision by the court puts any dent in that [popularity] or possibly, as some suggest, it might even embolden some supporters of the far-right AfD,” DW’s Young said.
The original article contains 361 words, the summary contains 145 words. Saved 60%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
