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Berlin / Cologne (dpa) - The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution is not allowed to classify and observe the AfD as a suspected right-wing extremist case until the conclusion of urgent proceedings before the Cologne administrative court.
This is based on a decision by the court that was served on those involved in the process on Friday.
The President of the Federal Office, Thomas Haldenwang, had informed the constitutional protectors of the federal states internally this week that the party had been upgraded to a suspected case, but did not publicly announce anything about it.
When media reports were later published about the new assessment of the AfD by the Federal Office, the Cologne authority did not comment.
The administrative court announced on the decision that it had granted an application by the AfD.
As a justification, the court stated that the equal opportunities of political parties were being interfered with “in an unacceptable manner”.
“Everything” speaks for the fact that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has not kept its so-called “standstill promises” or has not “taken sufficient care” that no information about the procedure is leaked out.
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The Office for the Protection of the Constitution had previously promised not to publicly comment on a classification until the end of the urgent proceedings before the administrative court and to refrain from using intelligence services to spy on MPs and candidates of the AfD until a decision was made.
However, this commitment did not apply to ordinary members.
"A domestic secret service that cannot keep anything secret," scoffed AfD chairman Jörg Meuthen.
The co-chairman Tino Chrupalla spoke of a “targeted intervention in party competition with state funds” immediately before the state elections in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate, which are due in mid-March.
The parties involved can appeal against the decision to the Higher Administrative Court in Münster.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210305-99-701318 / 4