Justice - "Right-wing rock" organizer may keep restaurant permit
An innkeeper and organizer of concerts by far-right bands from the Staupitz district of Torgau has been allowed to keep his business license for the time being following a decision by the Bautzen Higher Administrative Court (OVG). As the court announced on Monday, the judges upheld an appeal by the man. In February, the public order office of the district of Central Saxony had banned him from trading. The competent administrative court rejected an urgent appeal by the innkeeper in this matter, which is why the case went to the Higher Administrative Court.
According to the Higher Administrative Court, numerous concerts by bands from the far-right scene had taken place in the restaurant. According to the findings of the constitutional protection authorities, criminal acts such as shouting "Sieg-Heil" or showing the Hitler salute had often occurred without the applicant intervening in his capacity as steward or organizer, it said.
The OVG now asserted that findings about possible criminal offenses at the concerts, which were contained in official certificates from the Federal Office and the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, may not be used by the restaurant supervisory authority or the court. This is based on the standards set by the Federal Constitutional Court for the transmission and use of data collected by intelligence services. This is only permissible for the prevention of particularly serious criminal offenses, but not for the prevention of the criminal offenses in question here.
The court also referred to the requirement of separation between the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the police in Saxony. "According to the provision, the Free State does not maintain a secret service with police powers." As there were no reasons beyond the "non-usable findings of the constitutional protection authorities that would indicate the applicant's unreliability", this could not be established.
Read also:
- Despite the far-right concerts and alleged criminal acts at his establishment, the organizer from Bautzen in the District of Central Saxony managed to maintain his business license due to a decision made by the Administrative Court.
- The Higher Administrative Court in Torgau, Saxony, overturned an earlier ban on trading imposed by the public order office of the district, ruling in favor of the right-wing rock organizer.
- The Federal Constitutional Court's data transmission and use standards for intelligence services prevented the regulatory office from using findings about potential criminal offenses at the concerts, as these standards only allow for the use of such data in preventing particularly serious criminal offenses.
- The Higher Administrative Court also highlighted the separation requirement between the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the police in Saxony, noting that the state does not maintain a secret service with police powers.
- The Administrative Court in Saxony's District of Central Saxony initially rejected the innkeeper's urgent appeal, but the regulatory office's ban on his trading rights was subsequently overturned by the Higher Administrative Court in Bautzen, allowing the organizer to continue operating his right-wing rock venue.
Source: www.stern.de
