{
  "id": 10835261,
  "title": "AfD: Kerkeling and Maaßen at first hearing on AfD ban present",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/afd-kerkeling-und-maa-en-bei-erster-anhorung-zu-afd-verbot-dabei",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-30T02:00:08.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/politik/deutschland/afd-kerkeling-und-maassen-bei-erster-anhoerung-zu-afd-verbot-dabei/100258476.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "The state parliament of Thuringia is holding a hearing on the possibility of banning the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The hearing, requested by the Left party, features experts, including constitutional law scholars and Hans-Georg Maaßen, the former head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The Left party has long called for an AfD ban, citing concerns about the party's extremist views, particularly those of its leader in Thuringia, Björn Höcke. Two legal studies have found that the grounds for a ban are met, but some, including CDU faction leader Andreas Bühl, have expressed doubts about the effectiveness of such a move.",
  "summary": "Thuringia's AfD with Björn Höcke at the top is considered particularly radical. Is that the reason why a state parliament is hearing lawyers and a celebrity for the first time about a possible AfD ban procedure?",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}