Employers: progressive radicalization evident
The man had worked in the security-relevant area of the airport for many years. He last received the reliability certificate required for this under the Aviation Security Act from the Düsseldorf district government in 2019. After the district government had been informed by the employer that the employee had become conspicuous due to his political convictions and private commitment and that progressive radicalization was recognizable, it revoked it the reliability assessment.
Cash and in-kind donations collected
The applicant’s urgent application against this was unsuccessful. In the opinion of the Cologne Administrative Court, the revocation is obviously lawful based on the state of knowledge of the summary proceedings. Doubts about the legal reliability of aviation security arise from the fact that the applicant and his wife collected donations of money and goods and at least partially distributed these personally to Russian soldiers in the Donbass and other people who are fighting Ukraine there. Views on social networks referred to the applicant’s fundraiser and his account. Between September and December 2022, several thousand euros in cash were also collected, with which military goods such as protective vests, heating tents, food rations, radios and broadcast transmitters were procured.
Investigations into criminal violations of the Foreign Trade Act
In September 2022, the applicant traveled to the Donbass via Moscow. In addition to equipment, he also gave letters to Russian soldiers. These circumstances are evidenced by numerous images and videos that have been published on the YouTube and TikTok platforms. Against this background, there is a high probability that the applicant committed criminal violations of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act. The applicant is therefore already under investigation.
Complaint-free behavior in the workplace is not enough
The applicant’s objection that he never had a negative appearance at the airport and that his employer described his work as good did not lead to any other conclusion in the opinion of the Administrative Court. Complaint-free behavior at the workplace is required of every employee. A special trust can not be derived from it. The other behavior of the applicant is also not suitable to eliminate doubts about his reliability. On the contrary, he shows an obvious proximity to the Russian state. For example, he visited the Russian consulate in Bonn after the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in military uniform at an official appointment and thereby expressed sympathy for the Russian armed forces.
Required sense of responsibility no longer apparent
According to the court, his objections that he is committed to ending the war and fears a nuclear inferno contradict his actions and are just as unreliable as the further assertion that there was a press campaign against him staged from Ukraine . The sense of responsibility and self-control required for the assumption of reliability in terms of aviation security can no longer be assumed from the applicant. It can seriously be assumed that he would be willing, on instructions from third parties, to use his security powers at the airport for the interests of another state and to abuse his position and powers there.
to Cologne Administrative Court, decision of May 16, 2023 – 18 L 325/23
Editorial office beck-aktuell, May 17, 2023.