Saxony's Office for the Protection of the Constitution classifies Pegida as an extremist case

Dresden - The Saxon State Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the Pegida movement as a proven extremist case. "There are now sufficiently reliable findings that Pegida has developed into an unconstitutional movement over the years," said the authority on Friday.

Initially, the group demonstrating against the Islamization of Europe attracted a heterogeneous audience and represented more moderate demands. In the following years, however, qualitatively and quantitatively radical and ultimately extremist basic convictions would have prevailed. The Office for the Protection of the Constitution was convinced that this was an expression of steadily growing radicalization and disinhibition. According to the security authority, right-wing extremists are responsible for this and have had a significant influence on the course of the events.

Pegida herself publicly propagated positions "which are incompatible with the canon of values ​​of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany". This included speeches with "anti-minority, anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic statements". As a result, the movement has now become "an essential, indispensable part of the right-wing extremist scene".

Protection of the Constitution: Peaceful Pegida participants are not observed
Now, in addition to the Pegida-Förderverein, all persons are being observed who have extremist tendencies. The President of the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Dirk-Martin Christian, emphasized: "On the other hand, peaceful participants in the meetings who make use of their basic right to freedom of expression are not observed."

For years there had been demands to have Pegida observed by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. So far, the authority had refused.

Pegida was founded in October 2014. Up to 30,000 people took part in their demonstrations.

Source: Junge Freiheit