It always ends up being a complete fiasco. Yet some investigators in Saxony do not seem to be capable of learning their lesson when it comes to the ‘Centre for Political Beauty’ (ZPS), which repeatedly draws attention to right-wing extremism in the state through high-profile actions. These actions not only annoy the right-wing individuals and parties they are actually targeting, but also repeatedly bring prosecutors onto the scene, who consider these actions to be unlawful. And – as was the case this time – they simply went ahead and searched five flats.
The confusion surrounding the anti-fascist art and protest actions by the Centre for Political Beauty (ZPS) in Saxony continues. Last Thursday, 25 June, five flats belonging to members of the Centre for Political Beauty were searched in Berlin. According to a newspaper report, the Chemnitz public prosecutor’s office is investigating this case on grounds of “the use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations, as well as defamation and insult”.
The focus is on a caricature poster with which the ZPS responded to the alleged disclosure by the Saxon police of information from the case file relating to the seizure of the ‘Adenauer SRP’ protest bus last September. The seizure of the bus has since been declared unlawful by the Chemnitz Regional Court.
Don’t Saxony’s authorities have anything more important to do?
“The searches carried out on activists at the Centre for Political Beauty deeply disturb me. Don’t the Saxon authorities have anything more important to do than criminalise anti-fascist art – such as taking action against militant neo-Nazi cells, disarming enemies of democracy or finally getting the comprehensive strategy against right-wing extremism off the ground?!” asks Juliane Nagel, spokesperson for democratic society for the Left Party faction in the Saxon State Parliament.
“In my view, it is entirely legitimate to denounce the unlawful seizure of the Adenauer bus in Döbeln by overzealous Saxon police officers – a fact that has now also been established in court. It is just as legitimate to ask where a right-wing YouTuber obtained information about Dekra’s investigations into the seized bus – and to discuss this incident in an artistic and satirical manner. I had submitted several parliamentary questions on this matter (Parliamentary Papers 8/4252, 8/4254 and 8/4255).’
In his replies in the autumn of 2025, Saxony’s Minister for the Interior repeated the claims made by the police patrol that had seized the bus, which had passed a fully valid TÜV inspection just a few days earlier. This was not the first time the bus had been seized by the police. Each time, it has had to be returned because the on-board technology has been inspected and the police’s suspicions have proved unfounded on every occasion.
“I expect the state government to provide an assessment of the investigative measures,” says Juliane Nagel. “As well as questions regarding the legal basis for the search – including seizures and DNA sampling – I would like to know to what extent the drastic measure of a house search is proportionate (Parliamentary Paper 8/7503). Above all, however, the Chemnitz Public Prosecutor’s Office should review its stance on artistic freedom.”
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