Antifascism | Red help with stage victory in the account dispute

Rote Hilfe had called for donations to cover legal costs in the so-called “Antifa East proceedings”. Photo: dpa/Sebastian Kahnert Another victory for Red Aid and at the same time a remarkable decision that US political decisions in Germany are not accepted by the courts without objection. Attorney Dr. Jasper Prigge, who represented the Rote Hilfe in court, explained after the decision became known: “The Rote Hilfe was not guilty of anything. The termination of the account has led to great uncertainty among civil society organizations," but the Higher Regional Court (OLG), Prigge continued, has shown "a clear limit to arbitrary account terminations."

Last year, Sparkasse Göttingen terminated the left-wing legal aid organization Rote Hilfe's account, which had been held there for many years. The GLS Bank had also tried something similar, but civil society protests were able to persuade the bank to rethink its approach. In the Sparkasse case, Rote Hilfe had to go to court. At the beginning of this year, the regional court obliged the savings bank to continue to operate the account until the main proceedings were decided, which could take several years. The savings bank appealed against this.

On September 17th, the Braunschweig Higher Regional Court rejected Sparkasse Göttingen's appeal. The Sparkasse must therefore continue to operate the Red Aid account for the time being.

Why did the Göttingen Sparkasse terminate the Red Aid program in the first place? The reasoning was initially quite general: they wanted to “comply with the legal and contractual modalities”. In fact, the anti-fascist legal aid association had been classified as a so-called higher risk since 2015 and its account movements were checked monthly because it is classified as “left-wing extremist” by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

According to the Sparkasse, the termination was also related to a decision by the US government - because the State Department there placed "Antifa Ost" on a list of foreign terrorist organizations. However, “Antifa East” as such does not exist. Rather, a trial against a group of mostly young anti-fascists from Germany who are said to have physically attacked neo-Nazis is referred to as the “Antifa East Trial”. Incidentally, Germany and the European Union did not adopt the USA's classification.

Rote Hilfe had called for donations several times to cover, among other things, legal costs in the so-called “Antifa East Proceedings”. According to the savings bank, this led to an alleged increased control effort. The previous monthly checks have now become a weekday check of account movements.

Rote Hilfe never claimed to want to financially support an organization called “Antifa Ost”. Their appeal for donations referred to the “Antifa-Ost process”. In other words, people against whom criminal proceedings have been and are being conducted in this context. It was about financing their legal representation in order to ensure the fairest possible procedure.

The Braunschweig Higher Regional Court has now expressly recognized and taken up this distinction. It cannot be deduced from the appeals for donations that Rote Hilfe wants to support “Antifa Ost” as such in crimes. Rather, it is about enabling individual defendants and defendants to have a fair and humane trial. According to the Higher Regional Court, the conclusion that this would support possible terrorist activities is not plausible.

The savings bank was also unable to explain in a comprehensible manner why the higher risk that had existed since 2015 would have increased so significantly in December 2025 that it suddenly became necessary to check all account movements on weekdays.

The press spokesman for the Federal Executive Board of the Red Aid, Hartmut Brückner, interpreted the OLG's decision as "a sign of justice against hidden attacks on civil society that come from the US government. Regulatory authorities and banks alike must not rush to obey the Trump administration.” How the main proceedings will turn out remains to be seen.

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