By Anadolu staff
BERLIN (AA) - A German court ruled on Monday that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party can be monitored by the state security services for its suspected anti-democratic aspirations.
The Higher Administrative Court in Munster rejected an appeal filed by the AfD in a long-running dispute with the country’s domestic intelligence agency, which designated the party as a “suspected case of extremism” in 2021 and started to monitor its activities.
The judges upheld an earlier ruling of a lower court, which had concluded two years ago that it was lawful for the domestic intelligence agency to take this step against the AfD, as there were sufficient indications of anti-constitutional aspirations within the party.
The designation of the AfD as a “suspected case of extremism” enables the state security services to use intelligence service methods, such as recruiting informants to monitor suspicious activities of the party branches, and their possible links to outlawed extremist groups.
The party has been embroiled in a number of scandals in recent years, including a secret meeting of its senior officials to plan mass expulsion of immigrants, which have raised doubts about the AfD’s commitment to democratic values and human rights.
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, a former AfD lawmaker, was arrested in 2022 for being a member of a right-wing group, which authorities believe planned sensational actions such as storming the German parliament and kidnapping politicians in order to cause civil war-like conditions in the country and eventually overthrowing the government.