The Bavarian state parliament is rocked by a scandal before its first session: AfD politician Daniel Halemba was arrested this morning. His lawyer turned to the Bavarian Constitutional Court.
The AfD politician Daniel Halemba, who was wanted by an arrest warrant and was newly elected to the Bavarian state parliament, has been arrested, according to a spokesman for the Würzburg public prosecutor’s office. The 22-year-old was caught in the Stuttgart area around 8 a.m. Halemba is being investigated for incitement to hatred and the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations. The initial suspicion was confirmed after the evaluation of evidence. Halemba is scheduled to be brought before a judge in Würzburg today, or tomorrow at the latest, who could order him to be remanded in custody.
On Friday, the AfD parliamentary group itself announced that there was an arrest warrant for one of its MPs. The public prosecutor then confirmed that it was Halemba. The politician, who lives in Würzburg, could not be found at the weekend.
Halemba’s lawyer: “He is an elected representative”
Halemba could not be reached for comment since the arrest warrant was issued. Seub’s lawyer has contacted the Bavarian Constitutional Court. Lawyer Dubravko Mandic has filed a so-called interim order, according to a court spokesman. He did not want to comment on the content; the respondents were the state government and the Ministry of Justice. It is still unclear when a decision will be made on the application.
The Constitutional Court can issue an interim order if this is urgently necessary to avert serious disadvantages, to prevent imminent violence or for another important reason.
Halemba’s lawyer Mandic told the German Press Agency: “He is an elected member of parliament and, in my opinion, he has a claim against the government and the Ministry of Justice to instruct their officials that they no longer execute the arrest warrant.” Halemba must be allowed to travel to and from the state parliament.
AfD faction speaks of “state repression”
The chairwoman of the AfD parliamentary group in the Bavarian state parliament, Katrin Ebner-Steiner, has massively criticized the arrest of AfD politician Daniel Halemba. “With a fabricated reason for detention, the rights of the opposition are being significantly and flimsily encroached on,” said Ebner-Steiner on Monday before the start of a meeting of the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament. The “state repression” has thus reached “a new quality”.
The behavior of the Würzburg public prosecutor’s office is “an indictment” for democracy. “In this way, the will of the democratic sovereign is being trampled on. The parliamentary group will not allow itself to be intimidated by this repression.”
AfD parliamentary group vice-president Martin Böhm emphasized that he did not want to say anything about the ongoing proceedings, but in his eyes it was “deeply undemocratic to keep a young gentleman away from his position as a member of parliament in this way.” The group is “fully” behind Halemba.
Investigation against other corporate entities
According to his own statements, 22-year-old Halemba has been a member of the “Teutonia Prague zu Würzburg Fraternity” since 2021, which was raided in September. According to the public prosecutor’s office, there was a suspicion that there could be objects with symbols of the National Socialist Party, NSDAP, as well as stickers and writings of a racist nature in the fraternity’s fraternity house. Almost all of the seized items have now been evaluated, said the authority spokesman. “The allegations have been confirmed for us.” The evaluation of data carriers is still ongoing.
In addition to Halemba, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating four other members of the Würzburg-based student association, including for incitement to hatred and the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations. The connection has not yet commented on the allegations when asked by the German Press Agency. Halemba had previously rejected all allegations made against him as false.
Members of parliament generally enjoy immunity. However, this only takes effect with today’s constituent meeting at 3 p.m. The 22-year-old Halemba is the youngest politician to be elected to the Bavarian state parliament.
Source: Stern
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