NRW Higher Administrative Court publishes AfD rulings

Constitution - NRW Higher Administrative Court publishes AfD rulings

Münster (dpa) – Six weeks after the pronouncement of the verdict, the North Rhine-Westphalia Higher Administrative Court (OVG) in Münster published the decisions regarding the AfD in the exact wording. The 5th Senate of the Court in Münster justifies on approximately 113 pages why the party should be rightfully classified as an extremist suspect case by the Constitutional Protection. The court refers to derogatory statements made by the AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel about Germans with migration background. The party had initially appealed against the classification at the Administrative Court in Cologne and later in the appeal in Münster without success.

AfD has already announced legal remedies

The administrative judges in the appellate court, headed by President Gerald Buck, did not allow a revision to the Federal Administrative Court. The AfD now has four weeks to file a complaint. Party representatives had already announced immediately after the oral verdict pronouncement on May 13 in Münster that they would use this remedy. The judgments are not yet legally binding. However, the Constitutional Protection is already allowed to monitor the party with intelligence means.

Sufficient grounds

In the oral judgment reasoning, the 5th Senate had already explained that in the case of the AfD, there are sufficient indications that point to attempts by the party against the liberal democratic basic order. For example, it concerns recognizing only a devalued legal status for German citizens with migration background. According to the Basic Law, this is an unlawful discrimination. In the written judgment reasoning, the OVG now provides numerous examples - among others, from party chairwoman Weidel. She had expressed herself on Facebook in July 2019 about suspects of a group rape. "These are not Germans!", Weidel wrote and explained that it was not about Germans, but "properly about passport Germans, or German-Turks".

1. The Administrative Court in Cologne initially rejected the AfD's appeal against the classification, and subsequently, the Higher Administrative Court in Münster upheld this decision, labeling the AfD as an extremist suspect case.
2. The reasons for this classification, as detailed in the judgments published by the Nordrhein-Westfalen Higher Administrative Court in Münster, include derogatory statements made by AfD chairwoman Alice Weidel about individuals with migration background.
3. The court in Münster, presided over by President Gerald Buck, found that the AfD's actions and statements potentially undermine the liberal democratic basic order of Germany, as outlined in the country's Constitution.
4. Alice Weidel's controversial comments on Facebook, regarding suspects of group rape, further solidified the court's belief that the AfD poses a threat to the protection of the constitution in Germany.
5. As a result of this classification, the Constitutional Protection is now authorized to monitor the AfD's activities using intelligence means.
6. The AfD, led by Weidel, has vowed to challenge the court's judgments in the Federal Administrative Court, giving them four weeks to file an appeal.

Read also:

• Tough return to normality in snow and ice
• Steinmeier joined a moment of silence - a legal battle over an AfD protest.
• German national soccer team on their way to participate in the European Championship qualifying matches.
• The flooding has lessened, but the aftermath of mud remains.