Administrative court ruling - Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution may monitor AfD
The Bavarian Constitutional Protection Agency is allowed to monitor the AfD due to suspicions of constitutionally hostile activities within the party. The Administrative Court Munich dismissed the AfD's lawsuit against the previously announced observation with its spoken judgment today. In the three-day oral hearing, the court identified concrete indications of constitutionally hostile activities within the AfD.
Statements were made that are based on an ethno-biological understanding of the people, the court stated for the justification. With regard to people of Muslim faith, a threat and horror scenario is allegedly being built up. Germans with a migration background are allegedly to be discriminated against in violation of human dignity. Some statements go beyond the permissible criticism of a government for an opposition party.
Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) evaluated the judgment as confirmation of the handling of the Constitutional Protection Agency with the AfD. "Now it's important to closely monitor the development of the AfD further. The free state of Bavaria has also strengthened the observation of right-wing and left-wing extremists, as well as Islamists, the personnel of the Constitutional Protection Agency," said the CSU politician to the German Press Agency in Munich. Constitutionally hostile activities cannot be ignored in a freely democratic constitutional state.
No individual verbal outbursts
The AfD state chairman Stephan Protschka had announced at the beginning of the hearing that he would exhaust all instances. However, the court did not allow an appeal at first. A petition would have to be filed with the Bavarian Administrative Court. Today, Protschka said: "We will carefully analyze this judgment and explore all legal options to challenge this decision." Freedom of opinion is being restricted by the judgment.
The indications for a right-wing extremist tendency are sufficient and weighty, such that the public could be informed about the observation, said the president of the 30th Chamber at the Administrative Court Munich, Michael Kumetz. "Observing individual district associations would be too short-sighted," said Kumetz. "The justified statements of AfD representatives do not only represent individual verbal outbursts."
The AfD argued that the party cannot prevent individual members from expressing themselves accordingly. What becomes known in the party leadership can also be sanctioned - for example, through party order proceedings and office bans. Representatives of other parties also expressed themselves in a way that did not fit their party leadership on occasion.
The observation of the AfD by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had already been upheld by the Higher Administrative Court of Münster. "It is the task of the Constitutional Protection to notice such endeavors at an early stage and inform the population about it. With this decision, this task as an essential part of defensive democracy is confirmed and strengthened," Herrmann emphasized.
In Bavarian state politics, the judgment of the Munich judges was also welcomed by representatives of other parties. It is clear: "The AfD threatens our democracy," said SPD fraction leader in the Landtag, Florian von Brunn.
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber emphasized: "A court confirms once again the obvious: The AfD is a threat to our constitution and our country. They want to leave the EU and would serve Putin on a silver platter." He described the AfD as a "haven for constitutional enemies."
The AfD lost in two instances
The Bavarian Constitutional Protection had announced in 2022 that they would observe the AfD as a whole using intelligence services because there were indications of constitutionally harmful intentions. Against this, the AfD initially filed a lawsuit in an expedited procedure and lost in two instances. The main proceedings were heard at the Administrative Court.
The Constitutional Protection stated that they would refrain from using intelligence services such as the use of undercover agents until the judicial clarification, and so far had only used publicly accessible sources. Whether and when the use of undercover agents is planned is open.
- The AfD's lawsuit against the Bavarian Constitutional Protection Agency's monitoring due to suspected constitutionally hostile activities was dismissed by the Munich Administrative Court.
- The court identified concrete indications of these activities during the three-day oral hearing, including statements that violate human dignity, particularly towards Muslims.
- Joachim Herrmann, Bavaria's Interior Minister and a CSU politician, praised the judgment as confirmation of the agency's handling of the AfD.
- The court's president, Michael Kumetz, emphasized that the observations were not limited to individual verbal outbursts but represented a right-wing extremist tendency.
- Stephan Protschka, the AfD's state chairman, vowed to explore all legal options to challenge the decision, asserting that the judgment restricts freedom of opinion.
- The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution had previously received court approval to monitor the AfD for signs of constitutionally harmful intentions.
- Florian von Brunn, the SPD fraction leader in Bavarian state politics, welcomed the judgment, stating that the AfD threatens democracy.
- Martin Huber, the CSU General Secretary, echoed this sentiment, describing the AfD as a "haven for constitutional enemies" and a threat to both the constitution and the country.
