AfD placed under surveillance – ministry refuses to disclose reasons

The Interior Ministry of Lower Saxony has declined to disclose the evidence on which the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution (LfV) based its decision to place the regional branch of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) under stricter surveillance. According to the ministry, the document is classified as confidential owing to the volume of personal data it contains and the risk of revealing the agency’s working methods.

The ministry added that the matter is legally and politically contentious, which it cited as a further reason for withholding publication. The Epoch Times first reported the development.

The LfV classified the AfD in Lower Saxony as “an entity of considerable significance for observation”. Interior Minister Daniela Behrens (SPD) said she had signed off on the reclassification following a legal review. The report runs to around 200 pages. The party has filed a complaint with the Administrative Court in Hanover.

A similar dispute arose in Brandenburg, where the regional LfV initially designated the AfD as a suspected extremist organisation. After legal action by the party, the authority temporarily withdrew the classification and later published the memorandum. The chairman of the AfD parliamentary group in Brandenburg, Christoph Berndt, criticised the document.

In May last year, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) labelled the AfD a “confirmed right-wing extremist” organisation. The party challenged the decision before a court in Cologne. Pending a ruling, the AfD continues to be listed as a suspected case. No decision has yet been taken on the constitutional complaint.

(max)