The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party must grant access to its election party for the Thuringian elections to a number of journalists it originally wanted to exclude. This was decided by a court.
The regional court in Erfurt ruled on Saturday in favor of media companies that saw press freedom threatened. The ruling came a day before the Thuringian regional parliament elections on Sunday.
The verdict is not yet legally binding. The AfD can appeal the verdict to the Oberlandesgericht. It is unclear whether legal action will be taken by the electoral party, given the short time frame.
The newspaper Der Spiegel, the Springer brands Bild and Die Welt and the daily newspaper Die Tageszeitung (taz) had jointly filed a lawsuit at the regional court to challenge the exclusion of their journalists from the AfD election party, which they wanted to report on.
Central election celebrations by political parties on election day are traditionally crucial contact points for journalists. They capture the mood of the election results and conduct interviews, often with many prominent party members present.
On Sunday, the people of Thuringia must 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 service, the Landesamt für Grondwettbewaring, considers the Thuringian AfD to be definitively far-right.
The president of the court, Christoph von Friesen, justified the ruling, among other things, by stating that the election party is not a thank-you event for election volunteers and party friends, but has an “informative character”.
Since the AfD had already allowed other media representatives to attend the party, it was thus opened, he argued. Therefore, the party should also allow other media representatives to participate. While 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 explained.
Deputy spokesman for the state association AfD, Torben Braga, said that around 150 media representatives had indicated on Saturday morning that they wanted to register for the election party.
However, the capacity at the previously undisclosed location only allowed for 200 attendees, while 50 media representatives had already been given permission.
Braga had said before the hearing that the AfD might cancel the election party altogether if the court ruled in favor of the journalists.
The regional court scheduled the oral hearing because the AfD had objected to an identically worded emergency resolution from the court a week earlier.
The Thuringian Constitutional Court had already ruled that the party should have been given a legal hearing before the emergency ruling. That has now happened.
In a second case, the court ruled that another journalist who was a plaintiff was allowed to attend the election party.
Earlier, the Constitutional Court had criticized 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 happened.