AfD ban: Stefanie Hubig wants to use emails when checking applications

The question of a ban on the AfD has recently been discussed publicly, especially with prominent voices such as Hape Kerkeling.

However, a leak of internal information from the party, which Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig is now also keeping an eye on, could be crucial to the question of whether such an initiative will be successful.

»In principle, all available findings can be used. The emails could also be used if they provide evidence of the AfD's unconstitutionality," said the SPD politician to the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung" about the hundreds of thousands of messages and some confidential documents from the AfD that are circulating on the Internet. "That's right: because it's an existential question for democracy."

The right-wing extremist party is being monitored nationwide by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a suspected case.

Individual state associations are classified as definitely right-wing extremist by the respective state Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

According to SPIEGEL research, hackers are likely to be behind the leak of around 421,000 AfD emails and more than 48,000 documents, some with ties to the USA.

“I am convinced that we now have to seriously and systematically examine whether the requirements for a ban are met,” Hubig told the newspaper.

She spoke out in favor of a federal-state working group that would examine the chances of success of a ban procedure.

In principle, she can use all the findings that are available.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) also recently spoke out in favor of a federal-state working group to examine a possible AfD ban procedure.

According to previous information, such a working group would pool knowledge from the federal and state governments and cooperate with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and constitutional lawyers.

A decision would then be made as to whether the Bundesrat, Bundestag or federal government would apply for an AfD ban.

Hubig said: "It is clear to me: If an application has concrete prospects of success, then it must be submitted." She called the election of an AfD representative as state parliament president after the parliamentary election in Saxony-Anhalt a turning point.

When asked what she was still waiting for as Minister of Justice and therefore part of the federal government, Hubig replied in the interview: "The federal government can only decide on this question by consensus. I’m working on that.”