The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party must allow several journalists, whom they intended to exclude, access to their election party for the Thuringia elections, following a court ruling.
The Regional Court of Erfurt on Saturday ruled in favour of the media companies that saw press freedom threatened, a decision made one day before the election for the regional parliament in Thuringia on Sunday.
The judgement is not yet legally binding. The AfD can appeal the verdict at the Higher Regional Court. It is unclear whether there will be any legal steps before the election party, given the short timeframe.
The news magazine Der Spiegel, the Springer brands Bild and Die Welt, and the daily Die Tageszeitung, or taz, had jointly approached the regional court to challenge the exclusion of their journalists from the AfD election party, which they intended to cover.
Central election celebrations by political parties on election day are traditionally crucial points of contact for journalists. They capture the mood regarding the election results and conduct interviews, often with many prominent party members present.
On Sunday, the people of Thuringia are due to elect a new state parliament. The AfD is fielding top candidate Björn Höcke. In recent polls, the party is leading with figures around 30%.
The regional domestic intelligence agency, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, classifies the Thuringian AfD as definitively right-wing extremist.
The presiding judge, Christoph von Friesen, justified the ruling by stating, among other things, that the election party is not a thank-you event for election volunteers and party friends but has an “informative character.”
As the AfD had already allowed other media representatives to attend the party, it was thus opened up, he argued. Therefore, the party must also enable other media representatives to participate. Although the claim may not be “limitless” in tight spaces, the party should have transparently communicated an accreditation procedure based on specific criteria, the judge further elaborated.
The deputy spokesman for the AfD state association, Torben Braga, indicated that as of Saturday morning, around 150 media representatives had expressed their desire to register for the election party.
The capacity at the previously undisclosed location, however, permitted only a total of 200 participants, with 50 media representatives having already received approval.
Before the oral hearing, Braga had stated that the AfD might cancel the election party altogether if the court ruled in favour of the journalists.
The regional court scheduled the oral hearing because the AfD had opposed an identically worded emergency resolution from the court a week earlier.
The Thuringian Constitutional Court had, in the meantime, determined that the party should have been given a legal hearing before the emergency ruling. This has now taken place.
In a second case, the regional court decided that another claimant journalist must be allowed to attend the election party.
Previously, the constitutional court had criticised the regional court for giving the AfD a deadline to respond until September 2 – that is, after election day. According to the constitutional court, the decision had to be made before the election party – which has now been done.
