A top court in Germany’s lifted far-left German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser’s ban on Compact magazine, after the government raided 14 buildings connected to the magazine and confiscated its belongings.
LEIPZIG (LifeSiteNews) — The Federal Administrative Court in Germany has lifted the immediate ban on the right-wing news outlet Compact imposed by Germany’s leftist Interior Minister.
On August 14, the court reversed the immediate ban on Compact magazine and ruled that the company could continue to publish its products until the constitutional court reaches its verdict, which will likely take at least two more years.
On the morning of July 16, more than 300 policemen raided 14 buildings connected to Compact magazine, its management, and employees and confiscated the organization’s belongings. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had ordered the immediate ban of the company and all its publications.
READ: German government bans conservative magazine, confiscates all belongings, raids editor’s home
The German government has accused Compact of abusing press freedom to “agitate in an anti-constitutional manner.”
Jürgen Elsässer, founder and editor-in-chief of Compact, said during a press conference held on August 15: “We have triumphed over the authoritarian, not to say fascist, attacks by Nancy Faeser. It is a victory of David against Goliath, a victory of democracy over dictatorship.”
“We assume that our reach and the number of our readers has increased many times over as a result of this story. We want to use this success in the interests of democracy and peace,” he added.
Paul Klemm, the head of Compact’s video production, also emphasized the massive boost in fame the outlet received through the attempt to shut it down.
“We are experiencing huge support far beyond the patriotic camp.” Klemm mused that one could “almost be grateful” to Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
After Faeser’s authoritarian attempt to shut down the news outlet failed, politicians and media personalities across the political spectrum have demanded her resignation.
“The Federal Administrative Court has taken up the cause of press freedom and given the Federal Interior Minister a huge slap in the face,” said AfD co-head Alice Weidel. “Nancy Faeser must resign or be dismissed for her brazen attack on the freedom of the press. Anyone who tries to undermine a fundamental basic right so brazenly is unacceptable as a ‘constitutional minister.’”
Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), vice president of the Bundestag, also suggested that the Interior Minister should resign. “Constitution Minister Nancy Faeser has stepped onto extremely thin legal ice and collapsed. If she also fails in the main proceedings, that will be it,” he said.
Temporary reversal of Compact’s ban is not a total victory
While the decision by the Federal Administrative Court was celebrated as a victory by Compact, legal scholar and Compact attorney Ulrich Vosgerau warned that the ruling also includes worrisome aspects.
The court ruled that the immediate cessation of Compact’s print and online products was not proportionate to the alleged danger that the content posed to the public and that the right to press freedom granted by the German constitution has to be upheld for Compact until the constitutional court reaches its verdict in the case.
However, the administrative court also stated that “Individual statements in the print and online publications disseminated by applicant no. 1 [Compact] reveal […] indications in particular of a violation of human dignity (Art. 1 para. 1 Grundgesetz[German constitution]).”
“This is certainly not legally correct,” Vosgerau said. “Because the ‘applicant,’ i.e., ‘Compact’ Magazin GmbH, cannot – purely technically! – ‘violate’ ‘human dignity!’”
“This is because the Grundgesetz’s [German constitution] guarantee of human dignity does not address a privately organized and privately autonomous GmbH [limited corporation], but only the state.”
“Private actors, such as the ‘Compact’ magazine, cannot act ‘unconstitutionally,’ but at most ‘anti-constitutionally,’” Vosgerau continued. “For this, however, it is by no means enough to make a statement that is somehow supposedly ‘contrary to human dignity;’ one would have to make a statement to the effect that one intends to abolish human dignity once and for all and forever! Is there really any evidence of this in ‘Compact’ magazine?”
“The liberal constitutional state is not an educational state that has to use state power to monitor private citizens’ ‘compliance with fundamental rights.’”
The legal scholar said that these claims of conservative voices supposedly “violating human dignity” with their opinions are a tactic used by the left-wing Green Party and “state-funded NGOs” to transform and “educate” society according to their ideology.
