radical (magazine)

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radical
logo
description Left-wing magazine
Area of ​​Expertise Autonomous politics
language German
First edition June 18, 1976
Frequency of publication irregular
Sold edition 3000 copies
Editor-in-chief Editorial collective
Web link radikalrl.wordpress.com
ZDB 8759-2

The radical is on 18th June 1976 for the first time in West Berlin published magazine , which itself as the mouthpiece of the left and radical left-wing movement understands. The newspaper was in the 1980s and 1990s the largest circulation and probably the most influential newspaper of the Autonomous . Between 1984 and 1997 210 preliminary investigations were carried out against the magazine for the formation of a terrorist organization , making it the magazine in the Federal Republic of Germany most frequently affected by criminal investigations and criminal proceedings. The magazine was published anonymously and conspiratorially from 1984 and appears irregularly. Since the 2000s, the magazine has not appeared for long periods of time.

history

The magazine started with an open concept and public editorial meeting. The first edition started with a print run of 3000 copies. A first preliminary investigation against the magazine began in 1978 due to the printing of the banned Mescalero letter , in which, among other things, "secret joy" was expressed for the murder of Federal Prosecutor Siegfried Buback . Others followed, including a. because of the printing of letters of confession as well as building instructions for unconventional explosive devices and incendiary devices . The magazine was considered the mouthpiece of the squatter scene and was distributed nationwide.

The editorial team at the time described their own claim as follows:

“The grandpas of 1968 have still not understood that we are not fighting for the public, but for ourselves. And not against a "grievance", but for a self-determined life in all areas. Autonomy but subito! "

From 1981 onwards, numerous groups showed solidarity with the magazine and officially appeared as the publisher. These included the Wedding nuclear power plant group , the initiative against the high-security wing , the Alternative List Berlin and the taz . In 1982 another investigation began because of "advertising for a terrorist organization" because texts of the revolutionary cells were printed in the magazine. The student Michael Klöckner and the journalist Benny Härlin were arrested because they were on the publisher's list. However, it was not possible to prove that they had actually participated in the publication of the magazine or even in the publication of the texts. A solidarity campaign with the participation of the parliamentary group of the Greens , the Kreuzberg SPD , Günter Grass and Hans Magnus Enzensberger , among others , was formed. The two editors were sentenced to two and a half years in prison, but were elected to the European Parliament for the Greens in 1984 so that they did not have to serve their sentences. The judgment was not overturned until 1989 by the Federal Court of Justice (file number 3 StR 278/89).

From 1984 on, the was published radically anonymously, only accessible via post office box addresses in Switzerland or the Netherlands, copies sent by post were also sent abroad. As the largest and best-known paper of its kind, it was particularly popular with the Autonomous, as it published radical articles that were not possible in other publications. At that time it had a circulation of 6,000 copies, but it was able to reach far more people through distribution in flat shares , info shops , political groups and the like. In later years, the Federal Prosecutor's Office estimated the print run at 4,000 to 5,000 copies, of which more than half were sometimes confiscated, on the other hand, numerous copies were also distributed via photocopies made in Germany.

The radical became known primarily through the early use of the Internet. The federal prosecutor's office tried to block the website hosted in the Netherlands, but started a solidarity campaign that was supported by the Electronic Frontier Foundation , among others . The legal disputes over the website of the radical dragged on for many years.

At the height of the official persecution in 1997 against the more clandestine newspaper project with a postal address in the Netherlands , numerous well-known personalities and organizations published a documentation with criminalized texts. Among the editors were Elmar Altvater , Federal Board Member of the Association of Democratic Lawyers, Federal Board Member of the Journalism Section of the IG Medien , Cilip Editor - Civil Rights and Police , Jutta Ditfurth , Peter Grottian , Margit Mayer , Jens Mecklenburg , Wolf-Dieter Narr , Norman Paech , Bodo Zeuner and numerous other lawyers, scientists, journalists and members of parliament. The editors stated in the preface to the brochure

“Regardless of whether we approve or reject the content of the magazine, we strongly oppose repeated attempts to silence an unpopular publication. [...] The debate about published theses - even if they criticize the form of society - must not and should not be conducted with state repression. "

This was preceded on June 13, 1995 by a nationwide raid by several hundred against 50 people and organizations in order to prevent the newspaper from appearing again. The police operation was justified with searches for the anti-imperialist cell , the COMMITTEE and a person who was placed under membership of the Red Army faction .

After the last edition was radically five years ago, a new edition appeared in 2004. The 158th edition was published in the summer of 2005. However, since the last two issues were published, there have been several searches and several hundred issues have been confiscated. At the end of 2006 a new edition “30 Years Radical” was published, in which the history of the project and the left movement is reflected.

Between 2009 and 2012 five further editions appeared. An editorial collective Revolutionary Left (rl) acted as publisher . In May 2013 the federal prosecutor's office searched the rooms of nine people against whom they were investigating for surrendering the radical and membership in the revolutionary action cells.

literature

  • 20 years radical. History and Perspective of Autonomous Media. Numerous editors, VLA Hamburg, Unrast Verlag Münster, Schwarze Risse / Rote Straße Berlin, Edition ID archive Berlin 1996. ISBN 3-922611-54-0 ( full version online )
  • Bernd Drücke : Between a desk and a street battle. Anarchism and Libertarian Press in East and West Germany. At the same time dissertation at the University of Münster. Klemm & Oelschläger, Ulm 1998. ISBN 3-932577-05-1
  • Holger Jenrich: Anarchist Press in Germany 1945–1985 . Nevertheless publisher , Grafenau-Döffingen 1988, ISBN 978-3-922209-75-1

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Medico International Frankfurt / Paranioa City Buchhandlung Zurich and others (ed.): 20 years of radical history and perspectives of autonomous media . Berlin / Hamburg / Münster 1996
  2. ↑ The Environment Center Archive , accessed on June 15, 2009.
  3. ↑ Medico International Frankfurt / Paranioa City Buchhandlung Zurich and others (ed.): 20 years of radical history and perspectives of autonomous media . Berlin / Hamburg / Münster 1996, p. 12
  4. ↑ Medico International Frankfurt / Paranioa City Buchhandlung Zurich and others (ed.): 20 years of radical history and perspectives of autonomous media . Berlin / Hamburg / Münster 1996, p. 58
  5. ↑ Elmar Altvater u. a. (Ed.): Radical - documentation of criminalized texts .
  6. ↑ Elmar Altvater u. a. (Ed.): Radical - documentation of criminalized texts . Berlin 1997, p. 2
  7. ^ Federal Constitutional Protection Report 2004: 142
  8. ↑ No. 161 (summer 2009) to No. 165 (winter 2012)
  9. ^ Constitutional Protection Report of the State of Berlin 2011, p. 238
  10. ↑ Ursula Knapp: Investigation against left-wing extremists: Raids against revolutionary action cells. In: fr-online.de . May 23, 2013, accessed October 20, 2015 .