Overview
- On June 24, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht in Leipzig overturned the 2024 prohibition under the Vereinsgesetz, allowing Compact to resume all print and online operations.
- The court found that Compact’s extremist content, while infringing constitutional norms, had not become decisive for the organization’s overall political agenda.
- Compact-Magazin GmbH has been monitored as a right-wing extremist association by the Verfassungsschutz since 2021, but its individual radical pieces remain protected under press freedom.
- Editor Jürgen Elsässer hailed the verdict as a victory for free speech and said it would bolster the AfD’s standing.
- Press and legal experts warn the ruling sets a strict threshold for banning extremist media and could shape future association-law cases.