Who is Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, the militant subversive of the AfD?

Who is Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, the militant subversive of the AfD?
Who is Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, the militant subversive of the AfD?

Since March she has been a judge at Chamber 19A, which is responsible for construction law, at the Berlin Regional Court. In her free time, Birgit Malsack-Winkemann, who was a member of the Bundestag for the AfD from 2017 to 2021, is said to have planned the overthrow with others. On Monday morning, special police units approached the 58-year-old in the villa district in Wannsee and arrested her – like 24 other people from the Reich citizen scene nationwide. The federal prosecutor accuses them of forming a terrorist organization. 3,000 officers searched dozens of apartments, offices and storage rooms in eleven federal states.

The judge from Berlin is said to have been involved in the group’s coup plans. In the period after the overthrow, Malsack-Winkemann is said to have been intended as Minister of Justice. For the investigators, she is a central figure in the subversive force: she is said to have advised an early strike, which the authorities wanted to prevent.

The coup plans have been underway since November 2021

The investigators believe that the judge could have provided her fellow campaigners with her local knowledge of the Reichstag building. The group is said to have planned an armed attack on the Bundestag, politicians should be arrested. As a sports shooter, Malsack-Winkemann is said to own several weapons.

Right-wing extremist Jens Maier (right), Alexander Gauland and Birgit Malsack-Winkemann performed together in Hoppegarten.
© AfD-Landesgruppe Brandenburg in the Bundestag

Well-known judges speak of a meltdown for the Berlin judiciary. Malsack-Winkemann is considered cranky even under extremely tolerant judges. She describes her party spirit as a supporter of conspiracy theories with a penchant for esotericism.

If Berlin’s Senator for Justice, Lena Kreck (left), had had her way, Malsack-Winkemann would no longer be a judge. After her time in the Bundestag, she had a right to return to court. Kreck had the case examined extensively. In March it was said that Malsack-Winkemann’s reinstatement as a judge could not be prevented under the given conditions. The legal means are very limited in Berlin.

Under political pressure, Kreck then tried again to get rid of the judge – and failed. In the Bundestag, Malsack-Winkemann had repeatedly and publicly “excluded refugees and belittled them because of their origin” and in debates and on the Internet “made constructed, obviously false statements about refugees,” argued the justice administration.

We will exhaust all means to remove the accused completely from the judiciary.

Justice Senator Lena Kreck (left)

In October, however, the judges’ service court rejected Kreck’s application for early retirement from Malsack-Winkemann. Tenor: The judiciary did not begin to explain that the judge does not always stand on the ground of the Basic Law. What the judge said as a member of the Bundestag about Corona and migration should not be used. The court also said that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution was not aware of anything that would suggest hostility to the free and democratic basic order.

Now it turns out: Kreck was probably right after all. Malsack-Winkemann is a “highly dangerous person”. But by his own admission, Kreck knew nothing about the allegations and plans for a coup until Wednesday morning. Berlin investigators were also directly involved in preparing the raid. In the summer, Berlin reported the suspicion of an “anti-constitutional group” to the federal authorities. And since November 2021, i.e. before Malsack-Winkemann became a judge again, the plans for a coup have been underway.

She wanted to “fight for our country”

“It is quite normal that undercover investigations have to be carried out, only then can you achieve the corresponding successes,” said Kreck. She would have appealed the decision of the service court anyway. With the new findings, Kreck hopes that Malsack-Winkemann will no longer be allowed to work as a judge and that her pension will also be canceled. “We will exhaust all instruments to remove the accused completely from the judiciary,” said Kreck.

Birgit Malsack-Winkemann in the Bundestag.
Birgit Malsack-Winkemann in the Bundestag.
© picture alliance/dpa

In March 2017, when nominating candidates for the Bundestag elections, Malsack-Winkemann campaigned for himself by calling for closed borders and announcing that he wanted to “fight for our country”. She also attended several meetings of politicians from the now officially defunct far-right wing of the AfD.

In the Berlin state association, she was considered an outsider, and she had recently not been active at any level, according to party circles. After the 2021 election, Malsack-Winkemann was also planned by the AfD as a district councilor in Marzahn-Hellersdorf, but she withdrew the candidacy “for personal reasons”.

“The suspicion raised against Mrs. Malsack-Winkemann weighs heavily,” said state party and faction leader Kristin Brinker. “Now we have to wait and see whether he stands up to further investigation or whether he was wrongly charged. Until then, any comment is prohibited.” However, if the suspicion is confirmed, it is said that a party exclusion procedure should be started.

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The article is in German

Tags: Birgit MalsackWinkemann militant subversive AfD