AfD must allow ARD "Monitor" to attend party conference
Following a provisional court ruling, the AfD Thuringia must grant the ARD "Monitor" magazine access to its state party conference after all.
At the request of the German Press Agency, the Erfurt Regional Court announced that the application by the public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) for a temporary injunction had been granted. At the same time, a court spokesperson stated that the other side had requested an oral hearing in the matter. How the case will proceed in court and whether there will be a hearing initially remained open.
The state party conference of the AfD Thuringia begins on Friday. On Wednesday, it became known that the ARD "Monitor" team had been denied permission to report by the party, unlike in the case of other media.
"Monitor" director Georg Restle had criticized the decision of the party, which has been classified as right-wing extremist by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Thuringia, as an "oath of revelation by an extreme right-wing AfD state association, which shows what the party thinks of critical journalism and freedom of opinion in this country".
"Plump propaganda"
Stefan Möller, state spokesperson for the AfD in Thuringia, published his reasons for the exclusion of the "Monitor" team on the platform X, formerly Twitter. Among other things, he emphasized that it was in the interest of the party that party conferences were reported on. Acceptance ends "when there can no longer be any talk of journalistic reporting". Möller also wrote of "crude propaganda".
The WDR broadcaster had emphasized that it was highly questionable that "a party represented in parliament denies journalists access to a party conference because it does not agree with the reporting".
- Despite the classification of the AfD Thuringia as a right-wing extremist party by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, several media outlets are allowed to cover their national party conference except for the ARD "Monitor."
- The German Press Agency requested a temporary injunction from the Erfurt Regional Court for the ARD "Monitor" team to gain access to the AfD Thuringia party conference, which was granted following a provisional court ruling.
- The AfD's justification for denying access to the "Monitor" team, as stated by Stefan Möller, includes the assertion that they no longer consider it to be journalistic reporting due to their coverage of the party.
- The controversy over the AfD's exclusion of the "Monitor" team from their party conference has raised concerns about media freedom and the party's stance on critical journalism, with Georg Restle, the director of "Monitor", labeling the decision as an "oath of revelation by an extreme right-wing AfD state association."
Source: www.dpa.com
