On November 18, the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) challenged in a Berlin Administrative Court the decision by the German secret service (Verfassungsschutz) to classify the SGP as a “left-wing extremist” organization. The court issued a ruling based explicitly on the assertion that the SGP’s call “for an egalitarian, democratic and socialist society” violates the German constitution. The far-reaching decision lays the basis for declaring unconstitutional the selling, distribution and reading of Marxist and socialist literature. The SGP will appeal this decision and mobilize opposition to the far-right danger and the attack on socialism.
Christoph Vandreier, the deputy chairman of the SGP, delivered this statement before the hearing of the SGP’s lawsuit on November 18. Vandreier warned that the ruling classes, not only in Germany but throughout the world, are turning to dictatorial measures in the face of a growing upsurge of the working class and the mounting popularity of socialism. The court’s ruling confirmed Vandreier’s warning. The court fully backed the Interior Ministry’s anti-democratic argument. It dismissed the SGP's lawsuit and ordered the party to pay court costs.
On 24 January 2019, Dr. Peer Stolle filed a lawsuit against the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) Germany’s domestic secret service, in the Berlin administrative court.
The Ministry of the Interior responded to the SGP’s complaint with a 56-page statement. The response is not a legal argument but a diatribe against Marxism and every form of socialist, left-wing and progressive thought.
The court’s ruling against the Socialist Equality Party stands in the tradition of National Socialist ideological jurisprudence and Bismarck’s anti-socialist laws, and opens the door for the surveillance and suppression of all opposition to capitalism and arbitrary state power.
The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK) passed a resolution Monday condemning the ruling of the Berlin Administrative Court, which on November 18, 2021, upheld the designation of the German security service of the German section of the ICFI as “left wing extremists”.
The left-wing daily newspaper junge Welt has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany because it has been under surveillance by the intelligence agencies for years and is listed in the "left-wing extremism" chapter of the secret service annual report.
The SGP’s complaint against its surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s secret service, is of great political importance, because the government wants to criminalize socialist ideas. Hundreds of WSWS readers and workers have quickly recognized this fact.
The move is a massive attack on press freedom. It aims to strengthen the dictatorial powers of the state apparatus against any genuine--i.e., left-wing--opposition and create yet another precedent for censoring unpopular publications.
The SGP calls for the dissolution of the German secret service apparatus and the immediate removal of
The latest “Constitutional Protection Report” published by the Verfassungsschutz (Germany’s domestic intelligence service) at the end of June aims to silence anyone who criticises the mass death being organised by the NATO powers, calls social inequality by its name, and rejects the government’s pro-war narrative.
The Berlin-Tiergarten District Court has sentenced peace activist Heinrich Bücker for a speech he gave on the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion on the Soviet Union.
Around 3,000 officers from the special police forces stormed 137 locations in 11 federal states on Wednesday morning and arrested 25 people. Another 27 people are being investigated. The state prosecutor has accused them of being members or supporters of a terrorist organisation.
Regardless of whether the pending investigations can demonstrate that the agents gave the impetus to the planned terrorist attacks, a picture emerges of a right-wing extremist milieu organized and controlled by the state.
While right-wing extremist terrorist networks operate unhindered in Germany’s state apparatus and are covered up by the highest authorities, federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Social Democrats) has called for a fight against alleged “left-wing extremists” and young climate change activists.
On 18 March, the Berlin Administrative Court rejected an emergency application by junge Welt that it no longer be described as “left-wing extremist” in the secret service annual report.
The German court judgement and its written grounds represent a fundamental attack on democratic rights. The aim is to ban socialist ideas and any criticism of capitalism.
The Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee (UK) passed a resolution Monday condemning the ruling of the Berlin Administrative Court, which on November 18, 2021, upheld the designation of the German security service of the German section of the ICFI as “left wing extremists”.
The court’s ruling against the Socialist Equality Party stands in the tradition of National Socialist ideological jurisprudence and Bismarck’s anti-socialist laws, and opens the door for the surveillance and suppression of all opposition to capitalism and arbitrary state power.
Christoph Vandreier, the deputy chairman of the Socialist Equality Party, defended the right to advocate for the socialist transformation of society in a speech at the Berlin Administrative Court on November 18.
The deputy chairman of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (SGP, Socialist Equality Party), Christoph Vandreier, speaks about the importance of the lawsuit against the surveillance of the party by the German secret service.
With the lawsuit filed by the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei against the Federal Republic of Germany set to be heard in court in the coming days, more than 5,300 workers and young people have expressed their support for the SGP’s case and its fight to defend democratic rights.
The left-wing daily newspaper junge Welt has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Republic of Germany because it has been under surveillance by the intelligence agencies for years and is listed in the "left-wing extremism" chapter of the secret service annual report.
The German government has used the final parliamentary sessions of the current legislative period to massively expand the powers of the country’s police and intelligence agencies.
The selection of the former head of the secret service as a candidate shows the extent to which the ruling class in Germany is once again relying on fascist forces 75 years after the fall of Hitler’s Third Reich.
After years of refusing to do so, the government is now forced to officially recognise the extreme right-wing character of Germany’s largest opposition party.
The year 2019, on which the report focuses, was characterised by a surge in right-wing terrorism, but hardly a word on this threat is to be found in the Verfassungsschutz report.
There are close links between Germany’s secret services, its government and the right-wing extremist milieu not only in Saxony, but throughout the country.
