Germany bans right-wing Compact magazine and searches properties

By Miranda Murray

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's interior ministry banned the right-wing Compact magazine on Tuesday, accusing it of being a "mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene" and inciting hatred of Jews and foreigners.

Stepping up the government's fight against what it says is a surge in far-right extremism in Germany, the ministry said Compact had been working against the constitutional order and ordered property searches in four states.

Compact magazine, widely seen as a mouthpiece of the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party's radical wing, has a circulation of 40,000 and a wide-reaching social media presence. The ban also applies to Compact's subsidiary, Conspect Film, and prohibits any continuation of previous activities.

Searches of the magazine's office as well as the homes of its top figures, management and leading shareholders in Brandenburg, Hesse, Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt were aimed at seizing assets and other evidence, the ministry said.

"It is a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene. This magazine incites hatred against Jews, people with a history of migration and our parliamentary democracy in an unspeakable manner," Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.

Faeser has described right-wing extremism as the greatest threat to German democracy as mainstream politicians struggle to respond to a rise in the popularity of the AfD before elections in eastern Germany this year.

Compact magazine's editor-in-chief, Juergen Elsaesser, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Compact's website was no longer accessible by about midday on Tuesday in Germany. However, its accounts on social media platforms such as X were still accessible.

RIGHT-WING TIES

The interior ministry said the monthly magazine, founded in 2010, was a central part of the New Right network and had close links to the Identitarian Movement and other far-right groups.

The magazine was designated as a proven right-wing extremist publication by Germany's domestic intelligence agency in 2021 for disseminating conspiracy theories, anti-vaccination propaganda and antisemitic and Islamophobic narratives.

Advertisements for the magazine's summer festival on July 27 highlight the presence of Maximilian Krah, an AfD politician whose refusal to condemn all members of the Nazi paramilitary SS under Adolf Hitler led to the AfD being kicked out of the right-wing Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament.

Compact's shop was selling a silver coin featuring Bjoern Hoecke, head of the AfD in the state of Thuringia, for 75 euros ($82) and also a "hero's coin" for Donald Trump after a failed weekend assassination attempt on the former U.S. president.

AfD co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla condemned the ban, saying Faeser had abused her powers.

"We call on the minister to respect freedom of the press," they said in a joint statement.

Hans-Christoph Berndt, the AfD's leader in the Brandenburg regional parliament, linked the timing of the ban to September elections in three eastern states, including Brandenburg.

Media bans are relatively rare in Germany, which places a high value on press freedom and ranks 10th out of 180 in Reporters Without Borders' world press freedom index.

Compact can file an appeal against the ban with the Federal Administrative Court.

($1 = 0.9179 euros)

(Reporting by Miranda Murray and Andreas Rinke; Editing by Lincoln Feast, Timothy Heritage and Gareth Jones)