Armin Schuster, Saxony's Interior Minister and an AfD member, defended the labeling of the Saxon AfD state association as a confirmed right-wing extremist entity by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Dresden. He explained that it's their task to gather information, evaluate it, and conduct a technical-legal review, following the Saxon Constitution Protection Act, to determine whether an organization is extremist or not. Schuster emphasized that informing the public about proven extremist activities is their original task.
Relatable Scenarios
The classification is justified by the Saxon Constitution Protection Act on several grounds:
- The AfD's stance on migration policy is viewed as an attack on human dignity as defined by law and is contrary to the principles of the basic democratic order.
- The party has received similar designations in other German states and is under investigation by Germany's federal domestic intelligence agency as a suspected extremist group, indicating a concerning pattern of behavior.
The evaluation and review process includes extensive monitoring, legal challenges, expert evaluation, and a final court decision, ensuring the classification is based on thorough analysis and evidence. The courts have consistently rejected the AfD's counter-arguments, underscoring the rigor of this process.
