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Germany Puts COVID-19 Dissident Movement Under Surveillance, Reports Suggest

© REUTERS / CHRISTIAN MANGDemonstrators react in front of police members during a protest against the government measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the day of discussion in the lower house of parliament Bundestag regarding additions for the Infection Protection Act, in Berlin, Germany April 21, 2021
Demonstrators react in front of police members during a protest against the government measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), on the day of discussion in the lower house of parliament Bundestag regarding additions for the Infection Protection Act, in Berlin, Germany April 21, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 28.04.2021
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BERLIN (Sputnik) - Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution has put COVID-19 dissident movements, including the well-known Querdenken group, under surveillance, Der Spiegel reported on Wednesday.

According to the magazine, the counterintelligence agency sees the movement's activity as "hostile to democracy and/or dangerous for the state's security." The surveillance will involve collecting information, keeping an eye on their meetings and intercepting e-mail letters.

Regional counterintelligence offices have put COVID-19 dissidents on surveillance before.

A man wearing a face mask from the initiative Querdenken which opposes coronavirus restrictions is pictured in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on November 14, 2020. - A protester reacts as police use water cannon to disperse a demonstration against coronavirus restrictions on November 14, 2020, in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 03.04.2021
Anti-Lockdown Group Stages Protest in Stuttgart as Germany Braces for Third Coronavirus Wave
The federal office mentioned that the movements against COVID-19 restrictions used the ideas of US right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory and the ideology of nationalistic Reichsburger movement that rejects the legitimacy of the modern German state.

The Querdenken movement initially emerged in the German city of Stuttgart, where its supporters massively protested against COVID-19 restrictions, deeming them a constitutional violation, even though the constitutional court recognized the measures legal.

Since August, the movement has carried out multiple demonstrations in Berlin, including near the Bundestag, clashing with the police over non-compliance with COVID-19 restrictions and ban on mass events.

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