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Status: 05.03.2021 12:45 pm
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution cannot classify the AfD as a suspect case at this time. That was decided by the Cologne Administrative Court. The decision is valid until the court decides on a corresponding urgent motion of the party.
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) cannot classify and observe the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case until the conclusion of an urgent procedure before the Cologne administrative court. This was decided by the Cologne Administrative Court in a so-called pending decision and therefore the AfD granted a request.
The decision is an interim decision and applies until the court decides on a corresponding urgent motion of the party. The Federal Office had informed federal state constitutional protectors internally this week about a party update to a suspicious case, but did not publicly announce anything about it.
Intervened on equal opportunities for the parties
The Cologne Administrative Court justified its decision by stating that equal opportunities for political parties were being intervened “in an unacceptable way.” “Everything” speaks for the fact that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has not fulfilled its “promises of standstill” or has not “been sufficiently careful” not to get information about the procedure.
The fact that the classification of the AfD as a suspicious case by the BfV was made public this Wednesday by the media, the court interpreted as evidence that the information was “perforated”. The judges see the foundation of trust as “destroyed.”
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution had previously promised not to comment publicly on a classification until the end of the urgent process before the administrative court and to refrain from observing AfD deputies and candidates until a decision is made.
AfD’s first application rejected by court in January
At the end of January, the AfD had already submitted a request for a temporary injunction to prohibit the BfV from classifying and treating the AfD as a “suspicious case” or a “certain extremist company”. Otherwise, it threatens irreparable damage in political competition, the party argued.
The court had rejected this request in reference to promises to suspend constitutional protection. This was subsequently confirmed by the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine-Westphalia.
On Wednesday it became known that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had declared the AfD as a suspected case of right-wing extremism and, therefore, allowed its monitoring by intelligence services. The exceptions are AfD deputies and candidates for parliament. The AfD leadership was outraged and accused the Office for the Protection of the Constitution on political grounds.
The parties involved can file a complaint against the decision that has now been issued, on which the Higher Administrative Court of Münster would decide.
(Az .: 13 L 105/21)
