Hubig wants to consider AfD emails when reviewing grounds for ban — Der Spiegel
In Germany, Federal Minister of Justice Stefanie Hubig said that emails and documents being circulated online following a data leak from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party could be considered when reviewing the grounds for launching proceedings to ban it.
Review of leaked materials
This concerns around 421,000 emails and more than 48,000 AfD documents, some of which are confidential.
In an interview with Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung, Hubig said that all available information, including emails, could be used in the analysis if they contain evidence of the AfD’s anti-constitutional nature. According to her, this is a matter of existential importance for democracy.
As Der Spiegel reports, the minister considers it necessary to seriously and systematically examine whether the conditions for proceedings to ban the AfD have been met.
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Working group of federal and state authorities
Hubig supported the creation of a joint working group of federal and state authorities to assess the prospects of the proceedings. Such a group could combine data from federal and state bodies and cooperate with the constitutional protection services and constitutional law experts.
After that, the Bundesrat, Bundestag, or federal government could decide whether to file an application to ban the party. Hubig stressed that such an application should be filed if it has concrete prospects of success. At the same time, she noted that the German government can make a decision only by consensus and that she is working to achieve it.
At the federal level, the AfD is under surveillance by the constitutional protection service as an organization suspected of extremism. Individual state branches of the party are classified by local services as confirmed right-wing extremist. According to a Der Spiegel investigation, the data leak was likely carried out by hackers, some of whom have ties to the United States.
