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Ex-head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen at an event in February 2024
Photo: Thomas Banneyer / dpa
Former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Hans-Georg Maaßen says he is taking legal action against his former agency. Maaßen explained at the request of the German Press Agency that a lawsuit was filed with the Cologne Administrative Court against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution on Friday evening. The Nius portal had previously reported on it. The Cologne Administrative Court could not initially be reached on Saturday to confirm receipt of the lawsuit.
At the end of January it became known that the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) classified its former president as a person in the field of right-wing extremism and had stored data about him in the authority's information system.
In a letter that Maaßen himself made public, the office referred to Section 3, Paragraph 1 of the Federal Constitutional Protection Act as the reason for the storage. It states that the constitutional protection authorities are allowed, among other things, to collect information "about efforts that are directed against the free, democratic basic order."
Comprehensive statement of claim
Maaßen accuses Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) of using the domestic secret service "to observe government opponents." »Opponents of the government are not enemies of the constitution. In doing so, she is seriously violating her official duties and thereby damaging liberal democracy," said Maaßen. That's why he filed a lawsuit. Faeser is “unbearable” as Interior Minister and must be “immediately removed.”
According to Maaßen, the statement of claim comprises 40 pages and 165 pages of appendices - excerpts are available to the dpa. This shows that Maaßen objects to the fact "that he was classified by the defendant/respondent as an object of observation or is currently being treated." Accordingly, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution should also refrain from collecting, evaluating, collecting and storing information, personal data, information, news and documents on measures.
The document accuses the authority of illegal and unconstitutional actions. »Apparently the BfV initially bases its assessment on the fact that a right-wing extremist mentioned the plaintiff/applicant in a letter; Another person is said to have shared videos of the plaintiff/applicant on Facebook (...)," says the lawsuit. The argument goes that such third-party actions are irrelevant under constitutional protection law. There is no legal basis for observing or classifying Maaßen as an individual.
Maaßen is federal chairman of the “Union of Values” party, which was founded in mid-February and plans to run in the East German state elections in the fall. He had previously left the CDU and was threatened with expulsion from the party.
irb/dpa