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2d ago

Oldenburg Police Appeal Ruling on AfD Interview to Higher Administrative Court

The case tests how far police leaders may publicly warn about threats to the democratic order without breaching neutrality rules.

Oldenburgs Ex-Polizeipräsident Johann Kühme (SPD) bei der Gerichtsverhandlung, die er gegen die AfD verlor.
Im Rechtsstreit um Äußerungen des früheren Oldenburger Polizeipräsidenten Johann Kühme zur AfD will die Polizeidirektion ein erstinstanzliches Verwaltungsgerichtsurteil anfechten. Sie habe Berufung beantragt, erklärte die Polizeidirektion Oldenburg.

Overview

  • The Oldenburg Police Directorate filed an appeal to the Lower Saxony Higher Administrative Court in Lüneburg against a first-instance decision.
  • The dispute stems from a 2023 newspaper interview by then police president Johann Kühme that prompted a lawsuit by the AfD’s Lower Saxony branch.
  • The Administrative Court in Oldenburg ruled that police leadership may speak on internal security and attacks on the constitutional order but found some statements violated neutrality and objectivity.
  • Police president Andreas Sagehorn said the judgment largely validated the directorate’s stance yet maintains the criticized remarks are permissible when read in context.
  • The directorate argues the police are obliged and entitled to address dangers to the democratic order publicly, including when the discussion involves a political party.