No Airtime
January 3, 2008
According to the law in 14 of Germany's 16 states, including Hesse, all political parties have a right to airtime on public radio stations prior to elections. Broadcasters are permitted to issue a disclaimer saying that the spot's contents are purely the responsibility of the party.
Frankfurt-based Hessischer Rundfunk said the ad contained provocative material. The ad was scheduled to run on Friday, Jan. 4, and called for the deportation of non-Germans with "foreign cultures," according to media reports.
The right-wing extremist party is known for promoting xenophobia and its legality has come into question in the German parliament.
The NPD had appealed to the state administrative court in Frankfurt for an interim court order against the broadcaster, a court spokesman said on Wednesday. But the court denied the party's claim on Thursday, according to Hessischer Rundfunk.
"The cause of freedom of expression and the parties' freedom to campaign cannot lead to public broadcasters being forced to spread campaign messages that contain racist or inhuman ideology," said Helmut Reitze, the broadcaster's director general.
Hesse's foreigners' advisory council (AGAH) also expressed its approval of the broadcaster's decision.
"Democracy and the principle of equal chances in the elections don't mean that inhuman and racist ideas should be spread on public radio," AGAH head Yilmaz Memisoglu said.