State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony

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State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony

position Higher authority
founding 3rd November 1992
Headquarters Dresden
Authority management Dirk-Martin Christian
Web presence Website of the LfV Saxony

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony ( LfV Sachsen ; LfV SN ) with its seat in Dresden was established on November 3, 1992 by the Saxon State Government within the scope of the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior . As of December 31, 2007, the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony had 207 positions.

The tasks of the LfV Sachsen result from the "Law on the Protection of the Constitution in the Free State of Saxony" (SächsVSG).

Seat

Aerial photo of the LfV & LKA Sachsen at the BAB 4 in Dresden

The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony has its seat like the General Public Prosecutor's Office and the State Criminal Police Office of the Free State of Saxony in Dresden . It is located on Neuländer Straße in the north-western district of Trachau, right on the outskirts of the city on a long plot of land between Neuländer Straße and Bundesautobahn 4 , which it shares with the LKA Sachsen. It is just outside the Elbe valley on the edge of the Junge Heide . The Dresden- Wilder Mann motorway junction is located about 500 meters northeast of the LfV site . However, in emergencies, it is also possible to get directly from the LfV premises through a normally locked gate onto the motorway in the direction of Bautzen / Berlin .

The oldest buildings on today's LfV site were built as police barracks as early as 1935. Between 1945 and 1954 it was used as a clinic for the physically handicapped. The buildings were then expanded and used by the police in the GDR . In 1963, the officers' college for technical school readiness was established on the site, which in 1971 was elevated to the status of an officer college for the Ministry of the Interior Artur Becker - readiness for work. Since then, the officers of the "barracked units" of the MdI have been trained there up to company commander level.

structure

The State Office is divided into four departments , each with three or four sections :

history

From 1991 onwards, the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution played a key role in establishing the LfV Saxony. From the official establishment of the State Office until 1996, it was headed by the independent, West German lawyer Mathilde Koller , who had previously worked for the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution . She was the first woman to head a German constitutional protection agency. Their guiding principle was to set up “a fine analysis authority” for “differentiated policy advice”, which should be as independent as possible from the police. In 1994 the LfV had 78 employees. At least one experienced constitutional protection officer of West German origin worked in every area of ​​work, but over 80 percent of the staff came from Saxony, mainly from technical professions. According to its own information, the LfV had no employees with a Stasi past.

By changing the Saxon constitutional protection law in August 2003, the LfV also got the responsibility for the "protection against organized crime " (OK). Accordingly, a separate department was created for OC, which was supposed to monitor criminal networks, even “in advance” of the commission of criminal offenses. The department was headed by a former public prosecutor and was mostly manned by police officers. This was criticized by the opposition as a breach of the separation requirement between the police and intelligence services . Unlike the police and the public prosecutor's office, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution is not subject to the principle of legality ; if it becomes aware of criminal offenses, it does not have to initiate criminal proceedings. In an abstract judicial review procedure , the Constitutional Court declared that the observation of organized crime was only permissible if it was directed “against the free democratic basic order”. With another amendment to the Constitutional Protection Act in April 2006, the responsibility for monitoring “efforts and activities of organized crime” was deleted again.

At the beginning of February 2021, it became known that the state office was leading the Saxony regional association of the Alternative for Germany party as a suspected case .

Presidents

Period Surname comment
December 1992 - April 1996 Mathilde Koller moved to the Saxon State Chancellery on April 15, 1996, was State Secretary of the State of Berlin from 2000 to 2002, and from 2009 to the end of June 2012 head of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia .
1996-1999 Eckehardt Dietrich came from Rhineland-Palatinate, retired
June 1999 - end of 2002 Reinhard Boos then moved to the Dresden Ministry of the Interior
2003 - June 2007 Rainer Stock recalled in the course of the Saxon Marsh affair
June 2007 - August 2012 Reinhard Boos Resignation after an internal mishap in the context of the NSU affair
August 15, 2012 - June 30, 2020 Gordian Meyer-Plath initially provisionally for half a year
July 1, 2020 - Dirk-Martin Christian previously Head of the Protection of the Constitution, Protection of Secrets at the Ministry of the Interior

Committees of inquiry

In its short history, the Saxon constitutional protection has been examined by two committees of inquiry, each of which met beyond the limits of a legislative period:

  • the 2nd committee of inquiry of the 4th and 5th electoral term "Criminal and Corruptive Networks in Saxony", also called " Sachsensumpf ", and
  • the 3rd committee of inquiry of the 5th electoral term and the 1st committee of inquiry of the 6th electoral term "Neo-Nazi terror networks in Saxony".

Unlike the other NSU investigative committees of the Bundestag and other state parliaments, the Saxon investigative committee only meets non-publicly.

Only a few whistleblowers go public, such as Simone Skroch (formerly Henneck), the former head of department for organized crime in the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution, who spoke of the "existence of continuing structures of the former Ministry for State Security (MfS) in complex connection with organized crime" .

Affairs

Saxony swamp

From 2003 to 2006 the LfV had a unit for the observation of organized crime (OK). This was reprimanded in July 2005 by the Constitutional Court due to the requirement to separate the intelligence services and the police , unless there was a threat to the free and democratic basic order in individual cases. During an examination by the Ministry of the Interior, which was headed by Thomas de Maizière at the time , alleged sexual abuse of children by well-known Leipzig judges and a public prosecutor in the 1990s was reported, for which those accused as “suitors” never would have been prosecuted. The OK department, headed by the former public prosecutor Simone Henneck, suspected mafia-like structures in which politicians and judicial representatives were networked with criminals, as well as a connection to the murder attempt on a manager of the Leipzig housing and construction company in 1994. Overall, the department presented this complex 100 files with 15,600 pages together. The Ministry of the Interior saw a threat to the free-democratic basic order in all cases and approved the continuation of the data collection.

After a change in the Constitutional Protection Act, the OK unit was dissolved again. The Saxon data protection officer then demanded the deletion of the data that had been collected in violation of the competencies of the LfV and thus illegally. The Parliamentary Control Commission (PKK) decided not to delete the material, but to use it for further clarification. The new Interior Minister Albrecht Buttolo warned the state parliament of mafia-like networks in Saxony, in which local officials are also involved. National media reported on the “Saxon swamp”, in particular about the judges and a public prosecutor named as alleged “suitors” in a children's brothel.

Later, the LfV, whose management Reinhard Boos had taken over shortly before, stated that the head of the division Henneck had manipulated the files, overestimated the importance of allegations and rumors and acted generally unprofessionally. This was confirmed by an external review commission. In the opinion of the Dresden public prosecutor's office, the materials collected by the OK department could not be used under criminal law. Disciplinary and criminal proceedings were conducted against Henneck.

A committee of inquiry into “criminal and corrupt networks in Saxony” met from 2007 to 2009 and - after the end of the legislative period - again from 2010 to 2014. It did not come to a clear conclusion. While the representatives of the government factions CDU and FDP considered the existence of a "Saxon swamp" to be refuted and blamed the former head of the OK department and her main informant, a Leipzig detective, the representatives of the opposition factions Die Linke, SPD and Greens had further doubts and above all criticized the way the state government and the judiciary dealt with the affair.

NSU

Saxony's President for the Protection of the Constitution, Reinhard Boos, resigned on July 11, 2012 as part of the NSU investigation mishaps. Protocols from the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution emerged from a telephone surveillance from the end of 1998, which had long been considered lost and were not included in parliamentary control .

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution ignored indications that a Blood & Honor member wanted to supply the NSU trio in hiding with weapons.

On July 18, 2012, the Minister of the Interior of Saxony , Markus Ulbig , appointed an independent commission to reorganize the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution with effect from August 1. It includes the former President of the Baden-Württemberg State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Helmut Rannacher , the former Federal Prosecutor Monika Harms and the former President of the Saxon Court of Auditors, Franz Josef Heigl .

In June 1995 the State Office received documents from the Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) about the later right-wing terrorist Uwe Mundlos . It is not documented within the State Office what was done with it in 1998 when the search for the terrorist group began, and why the documents are now incomplete.

A bugging measure by the LfV Sachsen against the NSU trio ran from May 2000 to November 2010.

The television magazine Frontal21 reported on February 28, 2012:

“During an observation in the summer of 2000, the protection of the constitution from Saxony photographed the right-wing extremist 'White Brotherhood' in Johanngeorgenstadt . Apparently Uwe Mundlos, who lived underground at the time, was also photographed. But it was not until eleven years later, in November 2011, that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution forwarded the observation photos to the Federal Criminal Police Office. "

After the NSU trio was blown up in November 2011, more than 800 files on the right-wing extremist scene were destroyed. According to a test report by the data protection officer Andreas Schurig , the legal regulations were complied with during the deletion. However, it is unclear whether files containing information about the NSU trio were also destroyed.

In June 2012 the Deputy President of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Olaf Vahrenhold, was transferred. The reasons were, among other things, three newly emerged files - it was information about the "Ku Klux Klan", "Blood & Honor" and the operation "Terzett".

Data affair

Interior Minister Roland Wöller dismissed President Gordian Meyer-Plath in summer 2020 . His successor was Dirk-Martin Christian . The new president had previously given instructions in his role as a specialist for the protection of the constitution in the Ministry of the Interior to delete data on AfD MPs. This included data from four members of the state parliament, one member of the European Parliament and three members of the Bundestag, including party chairman Tino Chrupalla . The previous President Meyer-Plath had opposed this for weeks.

In June 2021, as part of the investigation into these events, it became known that Saxony's Minister of Economic Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister Martin Dulig (SPD) and the members of the state parliament Rico Gebhardt , Marco Böhme (both left), Christin Melcher and Valentin Lippmann (both Greens) were illegally collecting data were.

literature

  • Saxon State Ministry of the Interior (Ed.): Saxon Constitutional Protection Report 2019 . Dresden 2020 ( PDF ).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website of the LfV Sachsen: Tasks, Responsibilities ( Memento from January 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Law on the Protection of the Constitution in the Free State of Saxony ( Memento of January 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 250 kB) (Saxon Constitutional Protection Act - SächsVSG) of October 16, 1992; Legally adjusted as of May 28, 2006
  3. ↑ Saxon State Ministry of the Interior (ed.): Saxon Constitutional Protection Report 2019 . Dresden 2020, p. 17 ( PDF ).
  4. ↑ Michael Richter: The formation of the Free State of Saxony . Peaceful revolution, federalization, German unity 1989/90. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht , Göttingen 2004, ISBN 978-3-525-36900-5 , p. 895 ( digitized version on Google Books ).
  5. ↑ Weirdly stuck. In: Der Spiegel , No. 16/1994, pp. 61–62.
  6. ^ Act amending the Saxon Constitutional Protection Act and the Act to Implement the Act on Article 10 of the Basic Law in the Free State of Saxony of August 15, 2003 (SächsGVBl. P. 313)
  7. ^ The relationship between the Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Police , Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony.
  8. ↑ Kai Biermann: "Enlightenment was hindered." Interview with Fredrik Roggan. In: Zeit Online , June 15, 2007.
  9. ^ Judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Free State of Saxony of July 1, 2005 , file number Vf. 67-II-04.
  10. ↑ Second law amending the Saxon Constitutional Protection Act of April 28, 2006 (SächsGVBl. P. 129)
  11. ↑ AfD becomes a suspected case for the protection of the constitution in Saxony. In: mdr.de. February 1, 2021, accessed February 2, 2021 .
  12. ↑ Magazine Der Spiegel, issue 16/1994 from April 18, 1994: Secret services: Unheimlich deadlocked
  13. ↑ Press releases from June 21, 2012 by the Ministry of the Interior of North Rhine-Westphalia ( Memento from February 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Press release Ministry of the Interior of Saxony , July 26, 2012
  15. ↑ Press release of the Ministry of the Interior of Saxony , June 30, 2020
  16. ^ Sachsensumpf investigations: evidence of contacts by ex-Stasi people to crime. ( Memento of December 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: LVZ-Online , March 8, 2013.
  17. ↑ Sabine Beikler: Corruption affair in Saxony - The dark side of power. In. Der Tagesspiegel (online), July 7, 2007.
  18. ↑ Karin Schlottmann, Thilo Alexe: Farewell to the "Sachsensumpf". In: Sächsische Zeitung (Online), July 3, 2014.
  19. ↑ Spiegel Online from July 11, 2012: NSU investigation mishaps: Saxony's head of the protection of the constitution resigns
  20. ^ Spiegel Online from July 11, 2012: Resignation of the head of the protection of the constitution: Saxony's enigmatic secret files
  21. ↑ Spiegel Online from July 12, 2012: Protection of the Constitution in Saxony: MPs puzzle over mysterious files
  22. ^ Change of philosophy at the Office for the Protection of the Constitution: Interior Minister appoints independent commission , media release by the Saxon Interior Ministry, July 19, 2012
  23. ↑ Sächsische Zeitung Online from September 14, 2012: Handling of MAD files cannot be reconstructed
  24. ↑ Die Welt Online of October 13, 2012: NSU files: The delicate "Terzett" operation for the protection of the constitution
  25. ↑ Frontal21 from February 28, 2012: checked: NSU Terror-Trio: Apparently another manhunt in Johanngeorgenstadt ( archive ( memento from October 17, 2012 on WebCite ))
  26. ↑ Spiegel Online of January 24, 2013: Saxony's protection of the constitution: Destroying right-wing extremism files was legal
  27. ^ Constitutional Protection Vice Vahrenhold must go ( memento from June 23, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), mdr.de from June 19, 2013.
  28. ↑ New breakdown at the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony: Further files relating to NSU emerged , spiegel.de from June 19, 2013.
  29. ^ Constitutional protection vice stumbles over NSU files ( memento from June 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), mdr.de from June 19, 2013.
  30. ↑ Saxony wants to delete data from AfD politicians , Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. July 1, 2020
  31. ↑ The Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Saxony illegally collected data on Vice Prime Minister , Der Spiegel. June 8, 2021

Coordinates: 51 ° 5 ′ 55 "  N , 13 ° 42 ′ 24"  E