AfD in the legal dispute: partial success and defeat in a scandal case!

AfD in the legal dispute: partial success and defeat in a scandal case!

The political landscape in Germany remains turbulent, and the events related to the alternative for Germany (AfD) show this impressively. On Wednesday, the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament suffered a significant defeat and a partial success in two legal disputes. As reported [nordkurier.de] (https://www.nordkurier.de/regional/mecklenburg-vorpommern/zitter-eklat-afd-bucht-und-gartle success-in-zwei-gerichts-3673638), the district court of Stralsund rejected a lawsuit in connection with the so-called tremor. This matter was about a statement by the left-wing member Dirk Bruhn, who claimed that AfD politicians had had his disease-related tremor during a state parliament session.

The court could not see any evidence of a knowingly defamatory intention of the Left-wing district association Vorpommern-Rügen, which was annoyed by the AfD parliamentary group. Enrico Schult, an AfD MP, described the decision as "incomprehensible and unsatisfactory". In a similar procedure, however, the Rostock district court decided that Bruhn's statement that the AfD MPs are "not only political assholes but also human assholes". An infringement can be punished with a fine of up to 250,000 euros. The exact reasons for the judgment can be expected for the coming weeks.

criticism and provocations

Another incident that caused a sensation took place during a budget debate in the Erlangen city council when AfD City Councilor Siegfried Ermer Joseph Goebbels quoted and represented the NSDAP as a socialist party. This meant that members of other factions left the council hall, a reaction that Erlangen's mayor Florian Janik described as the "known pattern of the extreme right". Janik called for consequences for these provocations, which often do not exceed the legal limits, but endanger democratic coexistence.

The police headquarters in Middle Franconia has been informed about the incident, but there are currently no ongoing investigations against Ermers because there are no advertisements yet. These incidents raise questions about how freedom of expression in Germany is. This debate is also heavily discussed in the Bundestag.

Freedom of expression under pressure?

as [bundesag.de] (https://www.bundestag.de/dokuments/textarchiv/2024/kw08-de-aktuelle-stunde- Freiheit-990908), the AfD sees its freedom of expression through state interventions, while the SPD and the Greens are of the opinion that the AfD itself is a danger to freedom of expression. The Union criticizes the sacrificial myth cultivated by the AfD and demands a clear separation between right ideas and right -wing extremism.

dr. Gottfried Curio from the AfD described the Democratic promotion law as a label, while Dorothee Martin countered from the SPD that the AfD with its "inhuman statements" itself was a victim and not to the perpetrator and not. These controversy views show that the struggle for freedom of expression in Germany is more current than ever, and society has to wonder how it wants to deal with these extreme positions.

A clear message is necessary: ​​the responsibility of each individual in a democratic system should always mean to work for a respectful and factual dialogue.