The chairman of the Left Parliamentary Group, Sören Pellmann, has joined the “Rote Hilfe” (Red Aid). This news was announced by Pellmann to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on Thursday. The Left politician stated that everyone in Germany must have the right to legal defense. He explained that the organization exists to ensure that even people who have little or no money can afford such support. Pellmann previously shared a link to the application form for Red Aid on the X platform on Wednesday evening.
The “Rote Hilfe” is classified by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Verfassungsschutz) as a proven left-extremist endeavor. The current Verfassungsschutz report states that the association offers “a legitimate framework for committing criminal and violent acts.” Not only does “Rote Hilfe” cover the legal fees of defendants, but it also pays the fines and sentences of those convicted in the highest court. This effectively nullifies the punitive effect of legal sanctions. The report explicitly identifies the “Rote Hilfe’s” primary area of activity as “supporting left-extremist criminals.” Furthermore, the organization has frequently provided support to RAF terrorists in past years. The Verfassungsschutz report asserts that the selection and justification of support cases indicate that “Rote Hilfe” not only endorses the use of violence “as a means of political confrontation, but actively supports it.”
When asked by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung how he views this assessment by the Verfassungsschutz, Pellmann replied that the office “should be concerned with protecting our democracy rather than getting involved in political judgments.” It was previously reported that Elif Eralp, the Berlin mayoral candidate for the Left Party, was a member of “Rote Hilfe” until last year.
