2024-09-21 07:11:20
According to research, AfD politician Petr Bystron is said to have employed private employees as Bundestag staff. A cleaner thus became a parliamentary advisor.
The AfD politician Petr Bystron is said to have employed his lawyer and his private cleaner as employees in the Bundestag office. This is shown by research by “Zeit Online”. In several cases, the current MEP Bystron is said to have employed his lawyer Peter Solloch, who also worked as an employee in his Bundestag office, for private legal matters.
Solloch was employed in Bystron’s Bundestag office for more than six years. According to research by “Zeit Online”, he received 3,700 euros a month from the so-called employee allowance, which MPs can use to support their parliamentary work.
During this time, however, Solloch also regularly acted as Bystron’s lawyer and represented him in at least five private proceedings, including a penal order for allegedly giving the Hitler salute.
Insiders report that Solloch’s fees for these proceedings ran into the tens of thousands of euros. Bystron is said to have paid off the costs step by step through Solloch’s employee salary, which indicates that taxpayers’ money was being used for purposes other than intended. In response to a request from “Zeit Online”, the Bundestag administration stressed that representing MPs in court is not part of parliamentary work. If the suspicion is confirmed, Bystron faces a fine that could amount to up to half of his annual MP’s salary.
However, Solloch not only represented Bystron, but also Dagmar S., an employee in Bystron’s constituency office in Munich. S. was convicted in 2021 and 2023 of illegal possession of weapons and violations of the War Weapons Control Act. She was accused of establishing connections between an arms dealer and a prospective buyer. She had already attracted attention through contacts with the right-wing extremist scene, including Pegida and the NPD.
Allegations have also been made against Bystron in another case. Alla R., who had been employed by him as a parliamentary advisor for 520 euros a month since 2021, was hardly ever seen in the Bundestag, according to parliamentary group staff. Instead, she is said to have worked as a cleaner in Bystron’s Berlin home. If this is confirmed, Bystron faces a fine here too.
Bystron was already known in the past for his controversial personnel selection. Two years ago, for example, he is said to have pushed for the hiring of a Chinese employee, who was, however, fired after a security check by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. A representative of the radical right wing of the AfD under Björn Höcke also worked in Bystron’s office for a time.
Bystron is being investigated for money laundering and bribery. The parliamentarian is suspected of having received money in connection with the pro-Russian portal “Voice of Europe” in order to act in Russia’s interests in the Bundestag. The Bundestag lifted Bystron’s immunity in May. This resulted in several searches.
After Bystron moved to the European Parliament, the investigators had to take a forced break. With his new mandate as an MEP, Bystron, who was second on the AfD’s list in the election, enjoys immunity again. Investigations can only continue if Bystron’s immunity is lifted by the European Parliament.