Parliament is once again lifting the immunity of an AfD MP to enable investigations. He sees this as an attempt to worsen his party’s electoral chances.
After the AfD MP Petr Bystron, the Bundestag also revoked the immunity of the AfD parliamentarian Hannes Gnauck. In the evening, Parliament voted against the votes of the AfD for a corresponding recommendation for a resolution from the Immunity Committee. The MPs thus granted “approval to carry out judicial disciplinary proceedings” against the chairman of Junge Alternative. The AfD’s youth organization was classified as a confirmed right-wing extremist effort by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution in April 2023. A lawsuit against this is pending at the Higher Administrative Court in Münster.
Initially, nothing was known about the background to the lifting of Gnauck’s immunity. According to ARD information, it is about a disciplinary complaint from his time in the Bundeswehr. Gnauck represents the AfD in the parliamentary defense committee. Politicians from other parties had already sharply criticized this after it became known that the Bundeswehr’s Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) had classified the former soldier as an “extremist”.
Gnauck himself, who was a temporary soldier in the Bundeswehr from 2014 to 2021, explained in the evening that he had offered Bundestag President Bärbel Bas weeks ago to lift his immunity in order to clear up the allegations. Bas let him know at the time that this step was not necessary. Now, shortly before the EU elections, his immunity will be lifted “for no apparent reason” in order to enable investigations into proceedings that have been dormant for three years.
“The false portrayal of opposition politicians as corrupt or criminal is obviously intended to worsen the AfD’s results. This approach is damaging to democracy and the rule of law,” explained the politician. He has nothing to blame himself for and will wait for the results of the investigation.
Gnauck’s party colleague Bystron is being investigated on initial suspicion of bribery and money laundering. That’s why his immunity was lifted today and his MP’s office was searched.
Source: Stern
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