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The classification of the Saxon AfD as “right-wing extremist” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is legal. An urgent application by the regional association failed in court.
Dresden – The AfD-Saxony regional association failed in its urgent application to challenge its classification as a confirmed right-wing extremist endeavor by the state’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This was announced on Tuesday by the Dresden Administrative Court. After a preliminary review, there are “sufficient factual indications” that the party is pursuing endeavors that are “against the human dignity of certain groups of people” and “against the principle of democracy.”
Emergency application fails – Classification of AfD Saxony as “right-wing extremist” is legal
In addition, the AfD state association failed with another urgent application that would have required the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution to publish the 134-page report on which the classification decision is based. The decision is not yet final; the AfD has the option of filing an appeal with the Saxon Higher Administrative Court in Bautzen. In December, the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified the Saxon AfD as definitely right-wing extremist, while the youth organization Junge Alternative has been listed as definitely right-wing extremist since April 2023.
On 1 September, state elections will take place simultaneously in Saxony and Thuringia, with the AfD in Saxony in recent polls with approval ratings around 30 percent is roughly on a par with the CDU. The AfD’s regional associations in Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt are also classified by the respective constitutional protection agencies as confirmed right-wing extremist efforts. The party’s federal association is currently listed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a so-called suspected case.
Another defeat: AfD unsuccessfully takes legal action against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
The AfD has already taken legal action against classifications and measures by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution on several occasions at federal and state level, but has repeatedly suffered defeats. In May, the Higher Administrative Court in Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, confirmed the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution’s classification of the AfD federal association as a suspected right-wing extremist case. At the beginning of June, the Munich Administrative Court ruled that the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution may also monitor the party in its state.
Before the state election in Saxony – AfD state association can be classified as “right-wing extremist”
“Numerous” public statements by representatives of the AfD Saxony suggest that the aim of “a large part” of the party is to “grant German citizens with a migration background only a legally devalued status,” according to the Dresden Administrative Court. The party also represents views that aim to make foreigners and asylum seekers in particular “contemptible.” This constitutes prohibited discrimination that is incompatible with the “human dignity guarantee” of the Basic Law.
In its reasoning, the administrative court also referred to the cooperation of AfD representatives with right-wing extremists and anti-constitutional organizations. These groups have made anti-Semitic statements, denigrated the basic democratic order and the rule of law, and questioned the principle of democracy. With regard to the rejection of the application to publish the report, the court found that there is no legal right to this “under current law.”
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