Thuringia's Minister of Interior on neo-Nazi march in Plauen: "We would have intervened with the police"

The parade of about 500 supporters of the extreme right-wing splinter party "The Third Way" in Plauen in Saxony was a few hours ago, as posted Saxony's Interior Minister Roland Wöller (CDU) a post on Facebook. "Magnificent flowers," he writes and shares a post of a user who shows him with other people in the country castle Zuschendorf. "I have to go back with my family."

The picture is obviously from an event the day before. The sentence of the CDU Interior Minister ends with three red digital flower symbols. Statements on the hundreds of neo-Nazis, who draw in uniform look with drums in Hitler youth and Bengalos through the city Plauen, one searches in vain. As a user comments critically: "Did you sleep (... ..)?"

Thirty people like the minister's contribution. Others, however, are not at all enthusiastic about Woller's behavior and the assembly authority in the case of the approved demo in the district town of Plauen.

Parties and associations accuse them of failure, demand enlightenment: including left and Greens in Saxony and the Central Council of Jews.

At the core of their criticism are several questions: Why were Bengalos allowed? Why did not anyone intervene when hundreds of participants marched in uniform-like outfits?

The question is all the more explosive, since other interior ministers had responded differently according to their own statement. "We definitely forbade Bengalos," says Thuringia's SPD Minister of the Interior Georg Maier to SPIEGEL.

Certain regions in Thuringia, as well as those in Saxony, are regarded as far-right strongholds. One pursues a policy with more restrictive conditions for extremist events, says Maier. This does not only apply to the conditions for meetings and a possible Bengalo ban. "The police would have intervened with us," says Maier, looking at the uniform-like clothing of the neo-Nazis.

Getty Images

"Third way"

But that did not happen in Saxony. And that, even though the assembly law leaves room for that. Example outfits: It prohibits "wearing uniforms, uniforms or similar garments in public or in a meeting as an expression of a common political sentiment", if this can be intimidating. The police could have dissolved the assembly if they had found violations.

The Saxon police wrote on Twitter that the T-shirts in their assessment were not the same type of clothing because "no reference to current or historical uniforms was apparent." Therefore, there was no violation of the Uniformierungsverbot. "

"Does the presentation of the Assembly of the Third Way in Plauen represent an illegal uniformation according to § 3 SächsVersG?" - After earlier decisions of the Federal Court of Justice and the Higher Regional Court Dresden this was not the case. # pl0105 pic.twitter.com/cBG2iW0znt

And so the right-wing extremists could run unmolested through the city in southwestern Saxony.

The district office of the Vogtlandkreises, which approved as a meeting authority the elevator of the neo-Nazis, also allowed pyrotechnics at the beginning and at the end of the deployment, writes the "Free Press" citing a spokesman. 16 torches had been allowed, 14 were counted accordingly. Conclusion: everything in the context. At least the authorities find.

"Intervene in the realm of possibility"

Constitutional lawyer Christoph Degenhart of the University of Leipzig sees this a little more differentiated: In his opinion, police could have intervened in the march, but not necessarily. Crucial for a ban on uniform was whether the appearance on the forces had seemed intimidating, said the lawyer of the news agency dpa. The police obviously did not see such an effect. "Your assessment is justifiable, even if an intervention would have been quite possible."

But why are not more leeway used to make life more difficult for neo-Nazis?

A question that is particularly addressed to the Interior Minister of Saxony, but remains unanswered. The CDU politician assured after the criticism on Thursday evening to want to evaluate the events with the assembly authority. Wöller said he wanted to use all the constitutional scope to complicate radical right-wing marches.

DPA

Roland Woeller

A statement like in the Politicians Manual. In other words: Sounds good, but in the opinion of critics, especially in Saxony, far too little has been put into practice.

Upon request, the Ministry of the Interior stated that it had regular contact with all assembly authorities in the Free State in order to ensure the most uniform possible application of the law. A consultation between the Ministry and the District Office of the Vogtlandkreises, which approved the neo-Nazi event in Plauen, did not take place in this case, the ministry said.

Municipalities overwhelmed with demos

In Thuringia, one is already one step further: Because from the point of view of the interior minister, the assembly authorities in the municipalities are often overwhelmed by forthcoming far-right demos. They do not know all the leeway, they rarely have to deal with neo-Nazis.

Therefore, the Ministry of the Interior has set up a "task force" to support municipalities in such cases. It is to observe the current meeting in Thuringia, evaluate and accompany legal proceedings. These are, above all, circulation decrees for right-wing extremist events, which also endure before courts. Background are repeated judicially tipped decisions. According to Maier, the editions should in future also contain prohibitions on Bengalo. This is currently being examined.

Whether the "task force" can really make a difference is still open. However, Thuringia's authorities have recently proven that they want to make life increasingly difficult for right-wing extremists.