Unterwanderte Sicherheitsbehörden: taz Talk zum Buch „Staatsgewalt" mit Heike Kleffner, Matthias Meisner, Seda Başay-Yıldız uvm

A discussion with Heike Kleffner, Matthias Meisner, Seda Başay-Yıldız and other guests from the world of politics.

"Many wake-up calls have been followed by few real consequences," write the two editors Heike Kleffner and Matthias Meisner. "Warning signals are all too often ignored, criminal proceedings blocked, disciplinary measures delayed and copycats encouraged. It is the breaches of the dam in everyday life and the habituation to them that are shaking the democratic constitutional state."

In November, they published the book "Staatsgewalt - wie rechtsradikale Netzwerke die Sicherheitsbehörden unterwandern" (State violence - how right-wing extremist networks infiltrate the security authorities) with Herder-Verlag. After "Extreme Sicherheit - Rechtsradikale in Polizei, Verfassungsschutz, Bundeswehr und Justiz", which was also presented to great acclaim in the taz-Kantine in September 2019, this is the second book by the pair on the subject.

Together with many other authors, Heike Kleffner and Matthias Meisner take stock of what has happened in recent years and show that many reports have become part of everyday life: whether it's about elite soldiers preparing for "Day X", police officers spreading right-wing extremist content in chat groups, prison officers committing politically motivated right-wing crimes or members of the judiciary using violence to eliminate democracy.

However, the book and the evening in the taz canteen are not just about taking stock - but also about the question of what should be done now: Does the legislator need to respond to right-wing extremist civil servants by reforming service and disciplinary law? Do we need an AfD ban? How can whistleblowers in the authorities be better protected?

taz editor-in-chief Ulrike Winkelmann will discuss these questions with Heike Kleffner, Matthias Meisner and other guests.

Guests:

🐾 Seda Başay-Yıldız works as a lawyer in Frankfurt am Main. Among other things, she represents the family of Enver Şimşek, the first victim of the NSU murders. Since 2018, she has received a series of death threats signed by an "NSU 2.0" and containing data from Hesse police computers.

🐾 Heike Kleffner is a freelance journalist and managing director of the Federal Association of Counseling Centers for Victims of Right-Wing, Racist and Anti-Semitic Violence. She has been writing and researching right-wing terrorism and right-wing violence since the 1990s. Her work was awarded the 2023 Human Rights Prize by the Pro Asyl Foundation.

🐾 Matthias Meisner is a freelance journalist. He was an editor at Tagesspiegel from 1999 to 2021. He writes about human rights, refugees, right-wing extremism and more for the taz newspaper, among others.

Konstantin von Notz is a member of the Bundestag for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. He has been Chairman of the Parliamentary Control Committee for the Control of Federal Intelligence Services since 2022.

🐾 Marco Wanderwitz is a CDU member of parliament from Saxony and former Federal Government Commissioner for Eastern Europe. He is currently collecting signatures in parliament for an initiative to ban the AfD, which he believes is long overdue.

🐾 Ulrike Winkelmann moderates this talk. She is editor-in-chief of taz.

Questions and comments from the audience in the livestream are highly welcome, answers and other statements guaranteed.