City bows to the court
Essen gives up resistance against AfD party conference
16.06.2024, 16:49
The AfD can hold its federal party conference at the end of the month as planned in the Grugahalle in Essen. The city has refrained from taking further legal action following a ruling by an administrative court. The AfD is entitled to equal treatment, is the clear message.
The city of Essen will no longer try to prevent the AfD federal party conference in the city. The factions agreed on Saturday not to take further legal action against the party conference from June 28 to 30, a spokeswoman for the city explained. The Gelsenkirchen administrative court had previously ruled on Friday that the city must make the Grugahalle available to the AfD for the federal party conference. The court is convinced that the AfD is entitled to equal treatment when it comes to admission to public facilities. It should not be treated differently than other political parties.
The city of Essen has therefore decided not to appeal to the next higher court, said the spokeswoman. A hearing that was still scheduled for Monday at the Essen Regional Court has been cancelled, according to the city and the AfD. The dispute was also supposed to be discussed there.
The trade fair had originally demanded that the AfD make a voluntary commitment to accept responsibility for any criminal Nazi slogans that might be expressed at the party conference. AfD Vice President Peter Boehringer had argued, however, that it was impossible “to know in advance and prevent every criminally sensitive comment from being made when there are 1,800 participants and external, non-party visitors to an event.”
AfD elects new board
As a result of the city’s concession to the administrative court ruling, this legal dispute will not be pursued any further. On the city’s instructions, Messe Essen has recognized the AfD’s claim to access to the Grugahalle even without a declaration of commitment.
The AfD wants to elect a new executive board at the party conference on the last weekend in June, among other things. Numerous organizations have announced their opposition to the meeting. The police are expecting tens of thousands of participants in the counter-demonstrations – they would be the largest protests in the city for a long time.