Former head sues German domestic intelligence agency

The former head of the German domestic intelligence service, Hans-Georg Maaßen, is taking legal action against his former agency.

On Friday evening, a lawsuit was filed against the agency, formally known as the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, at the Cologne Administrative Court, Maaßen explained on Saturday when asked by dpa.

The court was initially unavailable on Saturday to confirm receipt of the complaint.

At the end of January, it became known that the agency had stored data on its former president in its information system in the area of right-wing extremism.

Maaßen accuses Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of using the domestic intelligence service "to monitor opponents of the government," he told dpa.

"Opponents of the government are not enemies of the constitution. In doing so, she is seriously violating her official duties and damaging liberal democracy," Maaßen said, adding that this had prompted him to file a complaint. Faeser is "intolerable" as interior minister and must be "removed from office immediately," he said.

According to Maaßen, the claim comprises 40 pages and 165 pages of annexes, excerpts of which were made available to dpa. It shows that Maaßen is objecting to the fact "that he has been categorized by the defendant/respondent as an object of observation or is currently being treated as such."

Accordingly, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution should also refrain from collecting, analysing, requesting and storing information, personal data, information, messages and documents relating to Maaßen.

The document accuses the authority of unlawful and unconstitutional behaviour. "Apparently, the [office] initially based its assessment on the fact that a right-wing extremist had mentioned the plaintiff/applicant in a letter; another person is said to have shared videos of the plaintiff/applicant on Facebook ...," the statement of claim reads.

In terms of constitutional protection, however, such actions by third parties are irrelevant, according to the argumentation. There is no legal basis for monitoring or categorizing Maaßen, it says.

Maaßen is the federal chairman of the WerteUnion (Values Union) party, which was founded in mid-February, and intends to run in the East German state elections in the autumn.