Saarbruecken, Germany - The Saarland Office for the Protection of the Constitution may continue to observe the "Association Scientology Church Germany". A complaint from the association, which is said to be attempting to build totalitarian structures and a different social system, was dismissed by the sixth chamber of the Saarland administrative court in Saarlouis. A written basis of the court's decision is still due.
This was verified for the Rheinpfalz newspaper by the chief of Saarland Constitutional Security, Helmut Albert, and by a spokeswoman of the administrative court. According to Albert's statement, this was the first decision by a German court against Scientology by which Constitutional Security is permitted to observe the group using the data collection methods of its intelligence services. The court decision is said to have nationwide significance as "Scientology" has sued against observation by constitutional security in other German states; decisions are pending.
"Scientology is trying to wriggle out of being put under observation at the national level by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution by suing the state offices, thus breaking out of the system by which the states collect pieces of the mosaic on this association for the feds," is how Albert saw the court's decision. He said the administrative court had been shown that "Scientology" was not simply a church, but that it had political direction and transgressed decisive points of Basic Law, as the group strove for a "new, undemocratic form of society" in which only members of "Scientology" were to have rights.
"Scientology" was said to have brought up the question in court of whether surveillance of "Scientology" was fitting for the situation. Albert had been able to show that court that it was appropriate to have "Scientology" put under surveillance by constitutional security as Scientology maintained its own intelligence services which operating using methods he said were not legal.
By way of example he said that the constitutional security in Saarbruecken as well as other government agencies in Germany had been called up by a staff member of this "Scientology" agency who had given a false name, pretending to be a journalist, in order to obtain information about the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.
In addition, staff of the "Scientology" intelligence service in Hamburg had attempted, according to Albert, to forcibly intrude into the Hamburg Interior Agency to observe a meeting of a former "Scientology" member who was reporting about the group to the state agency.
According to Albert "Scientology" was represented in Saarlouis by Munich attorney Wilhelm Bluemel. "I presume that our client wants to file an application for appeal, but cannot say for certain, as Mr. Bluemel, who was at the hearing, is currently on vacation," Alexander Petz of Bluemel's law office replied to our question. He said an application would be necessary so that "Scientology" could file an appeal to the court decision.
by Johannes Seibel