Wiesbaden (dpa/lhe) – According to Interior Minister Peter Beuth (CDU), a new regulation of the right to assembly should promote a peaceful culture of demonstrations in Hesse. With the Hessian Freedom of Assembly Act, in particular, the highest court decisions of the past decades will be implemented, he explained on Tuesday in the state parliament in Wiesbaden. Freedom of assembly is indispensable for democratic decision-making.
“At the same time, however, it is also necessary to show radicals and violent criminals limits in this context,” emphasized Beuth. It is therefore important to develop protective mechanisms against the targeted abuse of the right of assembly. According to the draft law, the ban or dissolution of the assembly should only be permissible if public safety is directly endangered. However, restrictions to protect public order should be possible, the minister explained with a view to right-wing extremist gatherings and elevators.
“In practice, these often show a dangerous similarity to the ideas of the National Socialist regime of violence and despotism,” said Beuth. Such gatherings wanted to “intimidate and downplay the unjust regime of the Third Reich or its leading representatives”.
The minister explained that the new ban on militancy should ban paramilitary events and gatherings that give the impression of a readiness to use violence. The so-called uniform ban, which should be retained in principle, also serves to do this. However, only those uniforms that are intended to intimidate would be recorded.