In a judgment dated April 28, 2022 (Case No.: 10 A 553/19), published on July 11, 2022, the Administrative Court of Stade strengthened the rights of specialist journalists who publish on right-wing extremism and are unjustly subjected to criminal charges for defamation, etc. The court found that the State Criminal Police Office of Lower Saxony had unlawfully stored and retained personal data on specialist journalist Andrea Röpke for years. The reason for the data storage was a criminal complaint filed by an AfD member, which was discontinued because no formal charges were filed.
In November 2018, Andrea Röpke received notification from the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA Niedersachsen) in response to a request for information, that data about her was stored following an online criminal complaint filed by an AfD council member from Papenburg for alleged "defamation against a person in public life (§ 188 of the German Criminal Code)." The investigation was discontinued by the Verden Public Prosecutor's Office on September 27, 2018, pursuant to § 170 para. 2 of the German Code of Criminal Procedure, as the AfD council member had failed to file a valid, but required, criminal complaint despite being contacted.
Despite this, and against his better judgment, the LKA refused the subsequent request to delete Röpke's data even in the court proceedings, arguing that Andrea Röpke had been known to state security authorities for years and regularly came to their attention through her behavior.
The Administrative Court of Stade fundamentally disagreed with this interpretation in its ruling. The Federal Criminal Police Office Act (BKAG), which forms the basis for the data storage, must be interpreted constitutionally in such a way as to allow the court to review the elements of the reported alleged crime. However, after review, the court could not establish any criminal conduct on the part of Andrea Röpke, and the State Criminal Police Office (LKA) should have clarified this as well. Furthermore, the importance of freedom of the press as a constitutionally protected right (Article 5, Paragraph 1, Sentence 2 of the Basic Law) outweighs the significance of the data for the work of the LKA, particularly given the lack of seriousness of the reason for the data storage. Therefore, the data should have been deleted at the latest upon the plaintiff's corresponding request.
“The Administrative Court of Stade has clearly rejected a data storage practice of the Lower Saxony State Criminal Police Office (LKA) that has likely led, and continues to lead, to mass unlawful data storage based on unjustified criminal complaints against specialist journalists,” said Göttingen-based lawyer Sven Adam, who represents Andrea Röpke in the proceedings, welcoming the decision. “Given the data scandals of recent years in Lower Saxony, the Lower Saxony LKA, in particular, should be more sensitive to these issues and not indirectly support AfD members in their attempts to suppress unfavorable reporting,” Adam continued.
