The designation could allow Germany’s intelligence agency to surveil and investigate members of the far-right party. The AfD says it plans to appeal the ruling.
A higher regional court in western Germany rejected on Monday an appeal by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party against its classification as a “suspected” far-right extremist organization.
The judges at the court in Münster said the designation was appropriate and did not violate the constitution or European law.
“The court finds there is sufficient evidence that the AfD pursues goals that run against the human dignity of certain groups and against democracy,” they wrote.
So, why are they still allowed to run in elections?
Because the hurdles for being banned are intentionally very very high.
Oh, and the authority in question (Verfassungsschutz) had a head who’s a bona fide Nazi. So the agency to protect the constitution from (right wing) extremists was led by a right wing extremist.
I’m not sure if there’s an English equivalent to “den Bock zum Gärtner machen”, but holy shit, did we do this.
Google translate gives it literally as “make the goat a gardener” which doesn’t have an equivalent, but it translates the phrase as “to make a scapegoat”, meaning you pin the blame on one person, they get all the consequences, and everyone else gets away with it. I’m not sure that’s what you meant.
I think the equivalent would be to let the fox guard the hen house.
And no, it’s not about having a scapegoat, it’s about putting exactly the wrong person with … let’s say “misaligned incentives” into some position (usually one of power).
That’s what I meant. Thanks 💖
A less euphemistic term in English is “regulatory capture”
That’s a huge part of the reason why it took so long to put out that official classification: They made sure that their classification would hold up in court. No one is served by getting it in a bit earlier, just for it to be thrown out at the first level of court, because someone got a bit lazy on collecting all the evidence and writing up a thorough report.
