Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties

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Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties
logo
legal form registered association
founding September 2016
founder Rolf Schlierer
Seat Stuttgart, GermanyGermanyGermany 
purpose Political advertising
Chair David Bendels

The Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties is a registered association in Germany that supported the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in election campaigns.

Foundation and goals

The association has been registered since September 2016. The founding meeting was chaired by Rolf Schlierer , who, however, did not become a member himself. The chairman is David Bendels . The forerunner of the association was the "Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties". The seat is in Stuttgart- Degerloch .

According to its own statements, the association is concerned with "promoting political opinion-forming and the democratic culture of debate in Germany". He was "consciously politically independent" and it was "not about people, posts and benefices, but about values, content and the future" of the country. The programmatic basis of the association is the manifesto of the "Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties".

The association has no non-profit status.

activities

In Baden-Württemberg , Rhineland-Palatinate , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin , the predecessor association of the same name supported the AfD's 2016 state election campaign with posters, advertising spots on the Internet and the free newspaper “ Extrablatt” . In April 2016, a half-page ad critical of Merkel was placed in the NZZ. For the state elections in Saarland 2017 and Schleswig-Holstein 2017 , a ten-page extra sheet was distributed. In the election campaign for the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017, the association advertised the AfD with large posters and 2.6 million copies of the campaign newspaper Extrablatt. The association also announced activities for the federal election campaign and consequently placed a half-page ad in the FAZ on August 17, 2017 , in which the former CDU member Erika Steinbach declared her support for the AfD.

According to the managing director of the Weikersheim Study Center , “there should be a loose cooperation between the Weikersheim Study Center and the association in the future. We see bigger overlaps ”. There are also contacts to politicians and journalists of the SVP in Switzerland and to their advertising agency Goal of SVP politician Alexander Segert . From mid-July 2017, the association published the subscription weekly newspaper Deutschland-Kurier for AfD sympathizers, initially in Berlin with an initial circulation of 300,000 copies. David Bendels is the editor-in-chief. Columnists included Peter Bartels (now a member of the PI-News editorial team and author at Kopp Verlag ), the non-attached member of the Bundestag Erika Steinbach , Konrad Adam , Guido Reil (AfD) and the Austrian candidate for the FPÖ's 2010 presidency , Barbara Rosenkranz . From October 2018, although no longer is club publisher of Germany messenger , but a Conservare Communications GmbH , Bendel but still managing editor. Financial support for the AfD party-affiliated Desiderius Erasmus Foundation initiated by a confidante of Alice Weidel has not yet been implemented.

After the Bundestag administration checked whether the generous support of the AfD in the millions by the association violated the political party law, the federal board of the AfD announced a cease and desist against any further election advertising for the federal AfD by this association and directly by the Swiss PR agency Goal. The federal spokesman Jörg Meuthen later claimed that the federal AfD had never worked with the said club, but according to the statement of accounts, Goal has been creating and maintaining its own homepage at a reduced price as a friendship service since 2016. The chairman of the Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties, David Bendel, was invited as an election campaign speaker by the state association of the AfD in Hesse a few days after the Federal AfD's declaration of discontinuance and four days before Meuthen's assertion . Other participants in the event were the member of the Bundestag Martin Hohmann and the deputy spokesman for the regional association of the AfD in Saxony Maximilian Krah.

In July 2018, club chairman David Bendels received a legal warning from the AfD federal executive board with the request not to use the party logo any more, since the published advertising "is likely to lead to the erroneous assumption that it is Advertising of our client is ". A lawsuit against the association was also announced. The CDU member of the Bundestag Philip Amthor raised the accusation: "The AfD has deliberately entered a legal gray area of ​​party financing." The now given distance is "more than flimsy and not very credible".

Conservare Communications GmbH

"Conservare Communications GmbH" in Hamburg on Neuer Wall 50 was specified as the publisher in "Deutschland Kurier" from 2018. The Hamburg authority for culture and media then examined a possible "violation of the legal notice under the Hamburg Press Act", since the company was not known in the commercial register, the competent trade office or the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. The company address given is a mailbox address with mail forwarding, which is neither a summons address of the responsible editor nor a legal representative of the publishing house.

Members and finances

There are doubts whether Bendels or Alexander Segert from the Swiss PR agency Goal AG controls the club. In September 2016, Der Spiegel reported for the first time about Alexander Segert's connections to the club. Segert organized an event with the Czech ex-president Václav Klaus in Berlin: Goal AG chartered a Spree steamer, Segert instructed the security staff on site and directed the hired camera team. The article reported for the first time that Goal AG had booked hundreds of billboards for the club before the state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin. Segerts Goal AG also directly supported a discussion event with (then) top staff from the AfD and FPÖ with almost € 30,000.

According to media reports, Josef Konrad, member of the AfD district association Upper Franconia and managing director of Polifakt Medien GmbH in Leipzig , and Michael Paulwitz were also active in the association. According to Bendels, the number of supporters is more than 9,000 people (as of 2017).

The association is financed through donations. The news magazine Focus estimated the cost of the campaign for the state election campaigns in 2016 to be in the six to seven-figure range. According to a report from Zeit, the total expenditure for printing and distribution costs of the advertising material amounts to a double-digit million amount. Since the association calls for the election of the AfD, the suspicion arose that the actions had been agreed with the party and that it was possibly covert party donations. The Bundestag administration examined possible connections between the association and the AfD, but found no evidence.

The association gives a Stuttgart mailbox address that is looked after by an office management company. The owner of the Swiss advertising agency Goal AG, Alexander Segert , states that the mail will be forwarded from there to his agency.

criticism

The German PR Council spoke in December 2016 of an "obviously intended concealment tactic" and reprimanded the association. Heidi Bank, board member of Lobbycontrol , sees donations from anonymous actors endangering democracy, because voters cannot know who is financing the election campaign and to whom a party is owed afterwards.

Annette Sawatzki from Lobbycontrol sees structural similarities to the Flick affair , Christian Fuchs from the weekly newspaper Die Zeit , on the other hand, speaks of a unique dimension in German democracy. In Deutschlandfunk, Peter Kreysler draws parallels to the US super-PACs and so-called dark money, which also played a decisive role in the case of the so-called Brexit .

The election observation of the 2017 Bundestag elections by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe , which was also carried out at the request of Alternative für Deutschland , led them, with a view to the Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties, to demand a legal regulation that would ensure the transparency and relatability of election campaigning and financing. The association effectively campaigned for the AfD, where the money came from, but remains in the dark.

After the "Deutschland-Kurier" was enclosed with the Augsburger StadtZeitung on July 25, 2018, the editorial staff and management distanced themselves from the content on the following day and asked the readers for their apologies. The insert order was made through an agency, which is why there was no content check.

Now the AfD is suspected of illegal party financing : It is said to have concealed notifiable large donations by flowing them into the association and therefore no longer notifiable. The AfD filed a criminal complaint against this association: It had illegally used AfD logos on their posters, which would be illegal. Critics see this as an attempt to get out of legal responsibility for illegal party funding.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Stuttgarter Verein wants thought leadership role: The new conservatives . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed on January 4, 2017]).
  2. ^ A b c Hans-Jürgen Moritz: Ex-CSU man collects money for the AfD election campaign. In: Focus Online . December 15, 2016, accessed March 31, 2017 .
  3. ^ Lichtenfelser heads conservative association - support for the AfD in the election campaign . In: inFranken.de . ( infranken.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  4. ^ Association Law and Freedom. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Greetings from the chairman --rechtund Freiheit.de. (No longer available online.) In: www.rechtundfreiheit.de. Archived from the original on December 23, 2016 ; Retrieved January 5, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Manifesto --rechtund Freiheit.de. (No longer available online.) In: www.rechtundfreiheit.de. Archived from the original on January 5, 2017 ; Retrieved January 5, 2017 .
  7. ^ Christian Fuchs: "Journalistenwatch": agitation without a donation receipt . In: The time . July 18, 2019, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed July 19, 2019]).
  8. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Stuttgarter Verein wants thought leadership role: The new conservatives . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed on January 4, 2017]).
  9. ↑ [1] , NZZ from April 25, 2016, advertisement on page 2
  10. ^ Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law. Accessed December 4, 2018 (German).
  11. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: Gastwirtschaft: And the AfD doesn't know anything . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . ( fr.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  12. ↑ Die Zeit No. 20/2017 of May 13, 2017.
  13. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: Gastwirtschaft: And the AfD doesn't know anything . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . ( fr.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  14. ↑ Hamburger Abendblatt - Hamburg: AfD: How Erika Steinbach is campaigning for the AfD via FAZ ad . ( Abendblatt.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  15. ↑ a b Erika Steinbach, the foundation and the millions . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  16. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Stuttgarter Verein wants thought leadership role: The new conservatives . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  17. ↑ Charlotte Theile : A new home for strictly right-wing conservative journalists. In: sueddeutsche.de . July 5, 2017, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Christian Fuchs, Fritz Zimmermann: AfD: shadow donors. In: zeit.de . May 13, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018 .
  19. ^ Friederike Haupt: International solidarity for the AfD. In: FAZ.net . April 24, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Ulrich Müller: How AfD politicians can be supported by Goal AG. In: lobbycontrol.de. June 12, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018 .
  21. ↑ Ulrich Müller: Dubious campaign advertising for the AfD - Swiss Goal AG is involved. In: lobbycontrol.de. June 8, 2017, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  22. ↑ Christina Neuhaus: Swiss support for AfD-Extrablatt . In: NZZ am Sonntag . ( nzz.ch [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  23. ↑ "Deutschland-Kurier" starts in Berlin . ( tagesspiegel.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  24. ^ "The 'picture' for angry citizens": 7 facts about the AfD-affiliated hate mail "Deutschland Kurier". Retrieved July 16, 2017 .
  25. ^ Christian Fuchs: "Deutschland-Kurier": editorial staff of the alumni. In: Zeit Online. July 11, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017 .
  26. ↑ Contact us - Deutschland-Kurier . In: Deutschland-KURIER . ( deutschland-kurier.org [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  27. ↑ New connections between AfD and dubious supporter association discovered | Germany News. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
  28. ^ WDR: Research by WDR, NDR and SZ - AfD donation affair is expanding - Press lounge - WDR. November 16, 2018, accessed December 4, 2018 .
  29. ↑ Melanie Amann, Sven Röbel: Affair with anonymous million donors: Log AfD boss Meuthen in the "summer interview"? In: Spiegel Online . July 23, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 23, 2018]).
  30. ^ AfD election campaign kick -off in the Johannesberg community center with around 200 interested parties . In: Osthessen | News . July 20, 2018 ( osthessen-news.de [accessed July 23, 2018]).
  31. ↑ Sebastian Pittelkow, Katja Riedel, Charlotte Theile Zurich: AfD takes action against their campaign workers . In: sueddeutsche.de . August 10, 2018, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed on August 11, 2018]).
  32. ^ AfD election campaign: Propaganda from the mailbox company - DER SPIEGEL 41/2018. Retrieved April 2, 2020 .
  33. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: Gastwirtschaft: And the AfD doesn't know anything . In: Frankfurter Rundschau . ( fr.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  34. ^ Sven Becker and Sven Röbel: Parties: The Swiss connection of the AfD . In: Der Spiegel . No. 37 , 2016 ( online - September 10, 2016 ).
  35. ↑ Melanie Amann: NRW country chief: AfD politician Pretzell received financial support from Switzerland. In: Spiegel Online . June 9, 2017. Retrieved June 10, 2018 .
  36. ↑ Bayreuth is behind AfD “Extrablatt” | North Bavarian courier. In: Nordbayerischer Kurier. Retrieved January 5, 2017 .
  37. ^ Election campaign aid with newspaper: Offensive advertising for the AfD? | Baden-Württemberg | News . In: swr.online . ( swr.de [accessed on January 5, 2017]).
  38. ^ Friederike Haupt: Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: The secret helpers of the AfD . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . August 21, 2016, ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed January 5, 2017]).
  39. ↑ Karl Doemens: "Extrablatt": AfD due to anonymous donation under pressure . In: fr-online.de . ( fr.de [accessed on January 5, 2017]).
  40. ^ Stuttgarter Nachrichten, Stuttgart, Germany: Stuttgarter Verein wants thought leadership role: The new conservatives . In: stuttgarter-nachrichten.de . ( stuttgarter-nachrichten.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  41. ↑ AfD: Millions out of the gray area , Zeit online from May 18, 2017, accessed on May 20, 2017
  42. ↑ Christina Neuhaus: Extra sheet: Interview with editor Alexander Segert . In: NZZ am Sonntag . ( nzz.ch [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  43. ↑ export Nationalism: The international use of the SVP advertiser. In: woz.ch. June 14, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017 .
  44. ↑ Frankfurter Rundschau: Gastwirtschaft: And the AfD doesn't know anything. In: fr.de. December 26, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017 .
  45. ↑ "Similarities with the Flick Affair": How deep is the AfD in the donation swamp? - n-tv.de. Retrieved December 4, 2018 .
  46. ↑ a b Populists and their shadow donors - darkrooms of democracy. In: About minute 7 or transcript page 5. Retrieved on December 4, 2018 .
  47. ↑ tagesschau.de: OSCE election observer in Germany: Victory for the AfD? In: faktenfinder.tagesschau.de. August 24, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017 .
  48. ^ Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights: Federal Republic of Germany. Elections to the federal parliament (Bundestag). September 24, 2017. OSCE / ODIHR Election Expert Team. Final report . P. 8, cf. also Jürgen P. Lang , Bayerischer Rundfunk: Report of the election observers: Deputy election campaign for the AfD: OSCE criticizes missing regulations -. In: br.de. December 6, 2017. Retrieved December 26, 2017 .
  49. ↑ StadtZeitung GmbH & Co. KG: On our own behalf: Sorry! In: stadtzeitung.de . ( stadtzeitung.de [accessed December 4, 2018]).
  50. ↑ Middelhoff, Paul / Fuchs, Christian: The Network of the New Right: Who directs them, who finances them and how they change society . ISBN 978-3-644-40637-7 , pp. 236 .