Weimer apparently failed to ask the Office for the Protection of the Constitution

As part of the so-called “Haber procedure”, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM) received information about the three bookstores from the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. The procedure is a review of funded projects and project sponsors by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution ordered by the Federal Ministry of the Interior in 2004.

A spokesman for the BKM has now confirmed to the FAZ that the authority did not use the possibility provided for in the Haber proceedings to ask the Office for the Protection of the Constitution to clarify the information.

The bookstores want to sue

Weimer had previously defended himself against criticism of his decision. “In times of high polarization, extremism must be combated – not encouraged,” the politician told the German Press Agency on Thursday. “Prizes financed with taxpayer money should only go to institutions that are beyond reproach.”

When asked, Weimer and his authorities did not want to reveal exactly what the three bookstores were accused of. “The exact nature of these findings is subject to confidentiality,” said a spokesman for the BKM.

Concerns about Weimer’s actions came not only from the opposition, but also from the German Book Trade Association. The bookstores affected want to sue against the decision. The German Bookstore Prize for around 100 particularly committed small bookstores is also a financial injection with prize money of 7,000 to 2,000 euros.