Germany’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution as an Instrument for Character Assassination
CONTRIVED PURPOSE, WRONG TOOL:
THE SECRET SERVICE VS RELIGION
The OPC is a paradox. Its task is to protect the constitutional state, yet many of its activities could be classified as unconstitutional. It considers itself a stronghold against terrorist, extremist and subversive activities and, in some federal states, against the bogey of organized crime, yet its own agents and contacts consistently break the law and violate basic rights. It is relied on to defend national security, yet its existence made possible the harvesting of thousands of western secrets by East German intelligence during the Cold War.
It is a peculiar institution, very much a product of recent German history. When it was established in 1949, the atrocities committed by Hitler's secret police were fresh in everyone's memory. The allied forces insisted that the new organization be given limited powers, so it could not mutate into a monster like the Gestapo.
Nobody can be arrested or prosecuted by the OPC; if it wishes to bring a prosecution, it must present its evidence to the criminal police. But it was given extensive investigatory and intelligence functions, and empowered to collect, analyze and disseminate information on organizations engaging in activities considered subversive.