The Munich Prosecutor's Office followed the conversations between journalists and the latest generation. Now they received mail.
Journalists were intercepted by police while doing their work Photo: Lennart Preiss/dpa
Now it's official. Last week, journalists across Germany received alarming emails: the Munich prosecutor's office informed them that their telephone communications with Next Generation climate activists had been monitored. Taz's employees are also affected.
Not only journalists from Bavaria received the letter, but also those from other federal states.
The letters available for taz are dated March 18, 2024. It notes that the people approached were affected by state-of-the-art telecommunications surveillance in the period between November 7, 2022 and April 26, 2023.
However, the investigation is not directed against the recipients of the letter and the telephone conversations were not written down. It is unclear whether the conversations were recorded elsewhere.
Berlin's latest generation landline telephone connection affected
It goes on to say: Notification is made on the basis of a legal obligation; Those affected can apply to the Munich District Court for a review of the legality of the surveillance within two weeks of receiving the letter.
According to the investigation, the… South German newspaper It emerged that Bavarian investigative authorities listened to and recorded private telephone conversations and obtained permission to obtain mobile phone location data, listen to activists' mailboxes and read their emails.
The main affected area was a landline in Berlin that La Última Generación used as its official press phone. Therefore, since then it is known which journalists were affected, but not which ones.
Many questions remain unanswered
The Munich prosecutor's office confirmed at the end of June 2023 that investigators had monitored Last Generation's phone calls on behalf of the prosecutor's office. The Munich district court also issued resolutions to monitor telecommunications against members of the group due to initial suspicion of forming or supporting a criminal organization, the prosecutor's office told dpa.
Many questions remain unanswered: How many people are affected by surveillance? How many of them are journalists? Have the authorities taken measures to protect the special rights of the press? If, as the letter says, monitoring ended in April 2023, why were those affected not informed until now? Were those affected who are not members of the press also informed?
To all these questions and more, the Munich prosecutor's office gave only a dry answer: the conversations with journalists were not considered relevant to the trial. Surveillance notification has only been done now because cases had to be verified and assigned first. Since the investigation is still ongoing, the prosecutor's office cannot provide any further information.
Journalism needs confidentiality and security
Hendrik Zörner, spokesman for the DJV journalists' association, considers it “scandalous that the researchers' greed for information has not been limited to journalists.” The case is scandalous because journalists need confidentiality and security for their work. To protect journalism from state interference, freedom of the press is guaranteed in the Basic Law.
Any interference with press freedom by authorities must overcome large legal obstacles and must be carefully weighed against investigative interests and press freedom rights. Experts doubt this is true in the case of next-generation press phone surveillance.