2024-04-17 08:53:52
The Lower Saxony state parliament has lifted the immunity of two MPs, apparently representatives of the AfD. Now there is a raid on Hanover offices.
Investigators searched the AfD’s business premises in Lower Saxony on Wednesday. The background to this is an investigation against a member of the party’s state parliament due to initial suspicion of a violation of the party law, as the Hanover public prosecutor’s office announced. The presumption of innocence applies, emphasized a spokeswoman.
The Lower Saxony state parliament had previously lifted the immunity of two MPs. This was preceded by corresponding applications from a district court and the public prosecutor’s office. The state parliament’s resolutions on Wednesday were unanimous. Which MPs and which allegations were involved were not mentioned in the resolution recommendations of the Council of Elders or in the vote in the plenary session.
According to the Lower Saxony constitution, a member of the state parliament may only be held responsible for a crime or arrested with the approval of the state parliament, unless he or she is arrested when the crime is committed or on the following day.
Violation of party law can be punished with imprisonment
The search on Wednesday morning was only aimed at one member of parliament, said the spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office. According to NDR, this is the deputy AfD state leader Ansgar Schledde. There is a suspicion that, on the one hand, he did not forward donations immediately.
On the other hand, he may not have included expenses that he made for the party in the party’s annual report. This could be a violation of Section 31d of the Political Parties Act, which is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine.
According to the information, rooms of the state and a district association of the AfD in Hanover were searched. There were no searches in MPs’ rooms. The “Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung”, the “Neue Presse” and the NDR first reported on the searches. According to information from this media, around 48,000 euros in donations are expected. Accordingly, more than 100 individual transfers are said to have been received into Schledde’s private account. According to the report, the donors include a number of well-known AfD politicians – including members of the Bundestag.