German spy agency pauses 'extremist' classification for AfD party, local court says
BERLIN - Germany's domestic spy agency BfV will temporarily refrain from classifying the Alternative for Germany party as an extremist organization, pending litigation by the AfD, a court in the western city of Cologne said on Thursday.
The agency would not publicly refer to the AfD as a "confirmed right-wing extremist movement" until the court has ruled on an AfD motion to issue a temporary injunction, the statement said.
The extremist classification announced last week allows the Cologne-based spy agency to step up monitoring of the AfD, for example by recruiting informants and intercepting party communications.
The agency's 1,100-page experts' report, which is not to be released to the public, found the AfD to be a racist and anti-Muslim organisation.
The AfD says its designation is a politically motivated attempt to discredit and criminalise it.
The AfD's leadership on Thursday welcomed the decision by the BfV, which the court said was not acknowledging any legal obligation.
"This is a first important step towards our actual exoneration and thus countering the accusation of right-wing extremism," party leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel said in a joint statement. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
9 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Israel's Smotrich approves settlement splitting East Jerusalem from West Bank
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans overnight for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state. It was not immediately clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 scheme, which Palestinians and world powers have said would lop the West Bank in two and will likely draw international ire. In a statement headlined "Burying the idea of a Palestinian state," Smotrich's spokesperson said the minister would give a press conference later on Thursday about the plan to build 3,401 houses for Israeli settlers between an existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Israel had frozen construction plans there since 2012 because of objections from the United States, European allies and other world powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians. REUTERS
Straits Times
9 minutes ago
- Straits Times
Israel's Finance Minister approves settlement splitting East Jerusalem from West Bank
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich had approved the plans overnight, and will share more details at a press conference later in the day. Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved plans overnight for a settlement that would split East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank, a move his office said would bury the idea of a Palestinian state. It was not immediately clear if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed the plan to revive the long-frozen E1 scheme, which Palestinians and world powers have said would lop the West Bank in two and will likely draw international ire. In a statement headlined "Burying the idea of a Palestinian state," Mr Smotrich's spokesperson said the minister would give a press conference later on Aug 14 about the plan to build 3,401 houses for Israeli settlers between an existing settlement in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Israel had frozen construction plans there since 2012 because of objections from the US, European allies and other world powers who considered the project a threat to any future peace deal with the Palestinians. REUTERS
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Revived Ivory Coast rebel hub shows boom, burdens of Ouattara era
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Residents of Bouake walk past a painted wall, one day ahead of Ivory Coast 65th independence anniversary day in Bouake, Ivory Coast August 6, 2025. The painting on the wall reads \"New Bouake\" REUTERS/Luc Gnago/File Photo BOUAKE, Ivory Coast - Bullet-riddled buildings still line some streets in Ivory Coast's former rebel capital Bouake, but in the run-up to his third re-election bid President Alassane Ouattara is keen to turn the city into a symbol of recovery. "Bouake is a city of past pain, but above all rebirth, unity and renewed brotherhood," the 83-year-old incumbent said in his Independence Day speech last week, ahead of a parade in which he waved to supporters from a black armoured convertible. It was the first time Bouake hosted independence festivities in over 60 years, sending the message that "peace has returned" after the civil war that preceded Ouattara's swearing-in in 2011, said political analyst Geoffroy Julien Kouao. Yet away from the pomp of official ceremonies, ex-combatants and other Bouake residents tell a more complex story of lingering division and economic struggle. "When we go to a company to apply for jobs, we are turned away because they (employers) know we have taken up arms... They (employers) are afraid of us," said Fousseni Toure, member of a civil society group that advocates for former fighters. Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa producer, effectively split in two after a rebellion in 2002 against then-President Laurent Gbagbo, and Bouake became the headquarters of the New Forces rebels, many of them from Ouattara's Dioula ethnic group. The war was largely a result of xenophobic policies against farmers from Burkina Faso and Mali that also targeted northern Ivorians with cultural ties to them. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Jalan Bukit Merah fire: PMD battery could have started fatal blaze, says SCDF Singapore 4 housebreaking suspects taken to Bukit Timah crime scene under police escort Singapore To Vers or not to Vers: How will this scheme affect HDB prices? Asia Citizenship for foreign talents: How this footballer from Brazil became Vietnam's favourite 'Son' Business MyRepublic customers to see no immediate changes to existing services: StarHub Asia Malaysian MP Rafizi says his son was jabbed with syringe in planned attack, threatened with Aids Asia India, Singapore ministers discuss deeper tie-ups in digitalisation, skills, industrial parks Singapore From quiet introvert to self-confident student: How this vulnerable, shy teen gets help to develop and discover her strength Thousands of U.N. peacekeepers deployed and new elections were held in 2010, but Gbagbo refused to accept defeat to Ouattara, setting off four months of violence that killed around 3,000 people. RECONCILIATION ELUSIVE Ouattara, a former international banker who announced last month he would seek re-election, is widely credited for Ivory Coast's steady economic growth since he took office. Some former combatants say they have benefited. Alissou Ouattara, no relation to the president, supports his wife and five children by running a small restaurant and coffee kiosk. "I earn my living properly," he said. "I don't envy anyone." Other ethnic Dioulas have had a harder time, partly because of conflict with so-called "autochtone", or indigenous, ethnic groups who are more likely to support Ouattara's political opponents, said Soumaila Doumbia, coordinator of the Bouake-based Civil Society Platform for Peace and Democracy. "There are political actors who remain in the shadows to exploit young people so that they can come into conflict," he said. During the last election, in 2020, clashes killed 85 people. The exclusion of Gbagbo and Tidjane Thiam, leader of the opposition PDCI party, from the next ballot means the climate could be tense again when Ivorians vote on October 25. An Ivory Coast court ruled in April that Thiam was ineligible because he was a French national when he registered, while Gbagbo cannot run because of a past criminal conviction. Thousands of supporters of both men took to the streets of Abidjan's Yopougon district to protest over the weekend. Doumbia is nevertheless optimistic that these issues can eventually be resolved for good. "We are certain that in the months and years to come, Bouake will be a reconciled city," he said. REUTERS
