For over seven years, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (VS) spied on the Bremen Interventionist Left (IL) via an undercover agent. It is one of the largest spying cases in recent years. In addition to the IL, other groups such as Ende Gelände, Defend Kurdistan, but also the Left Party are affected.
Katharina B. and Kati V. can only speculate as to how and why the Office for the Protection of the Constitution contacted Dîlan S.. Also about the question of whether Dîlan S. is a leftist in general: what was real about him and what wasn’t. “It’s a stark emotional impact,” says Kati V.
It was only at the beginning of the year that they found out that Dîlan S. had been spying on the group as an undercover agent. “We went to his house and confronted him with the allegations,” says Kati V. He confirmed his spying activities, but was unable to explain why. Since then there has been no contact and Dîlan S.’s phone number has been switched off. He probably moved away. There will probably never be an answer to the question of why Dîlan S. spied on his closest friends for years.
What you know at the IL: Dîlan S. met with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution every two to four weeks for discussions that often lasted several hours. He received money, at least 500 euros a month, probably significantly more. And he was put under pressure by the VS. Dîlan S. was not doing well at work. He suffered from anxiety disorders and panic attacks, which he himself attributed to his spying activities in the confrontational conversation. He was in therapy. Psychological stability is a legal requirement for being allowed to work as an informant.
There will probably never be an answer to the question of why Dîlan S. spied on his closest friends for years
Spying in all areas of life
“Dîlan really had a lot of extremely close relationships within the group,” says Kati V. “His close friends, that was us.” He lived with the people he spied on. I had friendly, but also romantic and sexual relationships with them. I demanded a lot of emotionality and regularly sought exchanges about therapy experiences and trauma. “My trauma may now lie with the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This is information that even our health insurance company is not allowed to have.”
The protection of the “core area of private life” also applies to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Undercover investigators and informants are not allowed to use intimate relationships to obtain information. If sexual or romantic relationships nevertheless arise, the mission must be ended. such a ruling from 2022.
The Constitutional Protection Act It also prohibits an informant from “decisively determining the objectives or activities of the object of observation”. The IL sees itself as grassroots democracy, decisions are made according to the principle of consensus. “Of course Dîlan had a say. He was an active part of the group,” says Katharina B.
He was there when they went to Chemnitz in 2018. There were hunts for migrants by violent neo-Nazis. The IL was part of the counter-protest. Dîlan S. had taken his bike with him and it was stolen from him. The group pooled money together so he could buy a new one. “We thought that he had no money,” said Katharina B. Dîlan S. was already working for the Office for the Protection of the Constitution at that time.
Dîlan S. was involved in the preparation of the protests against the AfD in Essen, Riesa and Gießen in 2024/25. The IL had there organized counter-demonstrations and blockades as part of a nationwide alliance. The Left party was also there, and was also spied on, at least indirectly.
At the same time, church asylum was defended in the Bremen Zion community: over a hundred people, including community members, neighbors, but also the IL, followed a pastor’s invitation and kept vigil in a church for several weeks. In doing so, they successfully prevented several deportations. Dîlan S. was there; he helped organize the event.
How useful is the protection of the constitution?
Chemnitz, Riesa, Gießen, the Zion community: all of these were forms of civil disobedience that were carried out as previously announced. “To have this open form of political work monitored by informants is absurd,” says the IL’s detailed statement in which they make the unmasking public.
Bremen’s Interior Senator Eva Högl (SPD) criticized the fact that the group had published Dilan L.’s first name and a photo. The exposure would endanger Dîlan S.’s “life and limb”. Katharina B. and Kati S. find it absurd. After all, it was the Office for the Protection of the Constitution that brought Dîlan S. into this situation and to her psychological limits for over seven years.
The group calls for the abolition of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Even when it comes to Nazi structures? “Everything we know about Nazis, we know either through anti-fascist research or because they do it openly anyway,” says Katharina B.
Left parliamentary group leader Nelson Janßen also criticizes the use of informants. “The use of informants has stabilized rather than undermined the extreme right,” he told the taz. As part of the parliamentary control committee for the protection of the constitution, he is calling for an investigation.
But how do you deal with such a breach of trust? “It’s a blatant mourning process. At the same time, so much is happening in the world,” says Kati V. They don’t want to let it stop them in their political work.