The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) has stored its former president Hans-Georg Maaßen in the intelligence information system of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the area of right-wing extremism. This means that Maaßen is also considered an object of observation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This was the result of research by the ARD political magazine Kontraste together with the news portal t-online.
Constitution Protection stores Maaßen under right-wing extremism
According to the research, the BfV has an extensive collection of materials on Maaßen, the evaluation of which has led to his storage in the right-wing extremism category. The BfV declined to comment on this, citing privacy concerns.
Shortly after an inquiry with relevant questions from t-online and Kontraste to Maaßen, he apparently went public on Wednesday. A blogger close to him quoted from a letter from the office to Maaßen. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution cited statements by Maaßen in the 20-page document. Maaßen has since published the letter on his own website.
An inquiry from t-online and Kontraste initially went unanswered by Maaßen. In an interview with “Tichys Einblick,” he stated that the accusations are baseless and unjustified. He described it as an attack on the liberal democratic order by the Federal Minister of the Interior. According to the research, Maaßen himself has been aware of the situation for several days. Prior to this, he had submitted a request for information to the BfV regarding the data stored about him by the domestic intelligence service.
Already in August of last year, he had speculated to the newspaper “Die Welt” that the BfV had created a file on him. At that time, it had become known that the authority had made a so-called knowledge inquiry about Maaßen to the State Security Department of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA). Such inquiries serve the purpose of exchanging information between authorities.
According to Kontraste and t-online, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution also informed the responsible members of the German Bundestag about the incident in a secret meeting.
Maaßen repeatedly stands out with conspiracy ideologies
The jurist Maaßen headed the BfV from 2012 to 2018. Since his transfer to the temporary retirement, the former top official has repeatedly been associated with conspiracy ideologies and radical right-wing statements.
Maaßen is the chairman of the right-wing conservative association “Values Union”. The members of the association voted on January 20 for the founding of a party with the same name. The new party is supposed to be different from the CDU and other parties as it will not have a “firewall” like a party, as stated by the “Values Union”.
For the 61-year-old Maaßen, who announced his withdrawal from the CDU last week after many years of membership, being processed as an extremist could have significant consequences. Only recently, the requirements for constitutional loyalty of political officials in temporary retirement have been tightened.
However, the law will only come into force on April 1. It provides for disciplinary consequences if political officials do not fully adhere to the principles of the liberal-democratic order with their behavior. This ranges from removal from the civil service to the revocation of retirement pay.
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Left-wing politician calls for a committee of inquiry
The domestic policy politician Martina Renner (Left) demanded: “Following the latest developments concerning the former President of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Hans Georg Maaßen, a parliamentary committee of inquiry in the Bundestag must shed light on his activities during his tenure.” Even during his time in office, Maaßen was a cool anti-democrat who disdained the parliament and posed a threat to democracy.
