Interview with Lea Voigt
Bremen's far-left extremism row exposes flaws in state surveillance tactics
our website: Ms. Voigt, for the past few months, left-wing groups in Bremen have had to do a lot of explaining: Who are they in contact with? Who do they work with? How did it come to this?
Lea Voigt: It started with a debatable undercover operation involving an informant within the Interventionistische Linke (Interventionist Left). A right-wing campaign then managed to turn the tables: For weeks, the only topic was Bremen's alleged far-left extremism problem. The legitimacy of the informant's deployment was no longer up for discussion.
our website: As a legal expert, was the operation lawful?
Voigt: That's for the courts to decide. But there are indications it was not: the intimate relationships the informant allegedly entered into; his influential role in the organization; even his personal suitability is questionable. Above all, though, there's the fundamental question of whether the IL should be subject to intelligence surveillance at all.
our website: After all, they are classified as "violence-oriented and far-left."
Voigt: Public debate sometimes gives the impression that the constitutional protection agency's labels are beyond reproach. But given the basic setup, we should be especially critical: The agency creates its own justification for surveillance through its classifications. History shows that authorities—especially intelligence agencies—are far from infallible.
our website: "Violence-oriented" certainly sounds dangerous...
Voigt: That term is at the heart of everything. But the constitutional protection report states: The IL does not use violence. The "violence orientation" is derived from the fact that they refuse to distance themselves from other groups. That's quite a stretch.
our website: Questioning these assessments is difficult—you never know what evidence they're based on.
Voigt: That's a systemic problem with the constitutional protection agency: it operates without transparency. That's problematic when legal consequences follow. An authority can't just say: We're not entirely sure what's there, but it's probably correct; we'll base our decision on that.
our website: Like with the Golden Shop bookstore, which was denied a literary prize?
Voigt: Exactly. From what we know, that decision was based on a query to the constitutional protection agency. Without a whistleblower, this would never have come to light. Those affected aren't even supposed to find out that intelligence assessments have had consequences for them. Where there's no plaintiff, there's no judge. That's how authorities create legal gray zones.
our website: But in the bookstore case, everyone suddenly agreed: This isn't right.
Voigt: Yes, fortunately, we can now discuss again how to handle the constitutional protection agency's assessments. Culture Minister of State Weimer seems to believe that state-critical, inconvenient culture doesn't deserve funding. He'd rather promote a kind of state-sanctioned art: The state is good. Everything is good. We are grateful. That kind of cultural policy undermines the constitution itself.
our website: Federal and state governments are currently revising constitutional protection laws, and you're providing legal opinions on them. What should these laws look like?
Voigt: We need to strengthen the rights of those affected to ensure more judicial oversight. We could also expand the role of bodies like the Parliamentary Control Commission—and establish stricter rules for undercover operations. But the trend in federal and most state legislation is going the other way: expanding authorities' powers, not the rights of citizens.
our website: In 2017, the Federal Constitutional Court ruled that only a core set of basic rights requires strict protection.
Voigt: Yes—human dignity, the rule of law, democratic principles. Focusing protection on those could help.
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