German court suspends the government's ban of a far-right magazine pending an appeal ruling

BERLIN (AP) — A German federal court on Wednesday suspended a ban that the government imposed last month on a far-right magazine, ruling that it can keep publishing while judges mull its appeal in depth.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser banned Compact magazine and the company that publishes it, Compact-Magazin GmbH, on July 16. She described Compact as “a central mouthpiece of the right-wing extremist scene,” and said that it “agitates in an unspeakable way against Jews, against people with a history of migration and against our parliamentary democracy.”

Compact appealed to the Federal Administrative Court, and sought to have the ban suspended while the court considers the case in full — a process that typically takes months. The court said that it suspended the ban Wednesday, after a summary check of the measure determined that the chances of Compact’s complaint succeeding are “open.”

It said in a statement that evidence points to “a militant and aggressive position toward elementary constitutional principles” in many articles, but there are doubts as to whether an outright ban is justified on the grounds of proportionality.

Compact is run by far-right figure Jürgen Elsässer, and produces the monthly magazine of the same name, which has a circulation of about 40,000, as well as an online video channel, Compact TV. It also runs an online shop selling books, CDs, DVDs and other merchandise.

Compact has been published since 2010. In its annual report for 2023, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency said that it “regularly disseminates ... antisemitic, anti-minority, historically revisionist and conspiracy theory content.”

The strength of the far right has caused increasing concern in Germany in recent months.