Far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) MP Petr Bystron, who is second on the party’s list for the European elections, has long been suspected of accepting money from Russia. Within the framework of this investigation, the German Parliament approved this Thursday, at the request of the German Prosecutor’s Office, to suspend his immunity so that investigators can carry out the search of his office and his properties in Berlin, Bavaria and Mallorca.
Agents from the Bavarian State Criminal Investigation Office immediately began searching his office in the Bundestag (Lower House of Parliament), after the immunity commission decided to recommend lifting his immunity. Subsequently, the entire parliamentary plenary had to vote on the matter in the morning due to the importance of the case. Social Democrats, Conservatives, Greens, Liberals, the Left Party and the BSW voted in favor. Only AfD abstained from the vote.
The judicial action occurs less than a month before the European elections on June 9, in which more and more politicians and experts fear that there will be attempts at foreign interference, especially from Russia, but also from other powers such as China. .
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the AfD deputy on suspicion of bribery and money laundering. According to official information, 11 prosecutors and almost 70 police officers from the Bavarian State Criminal Investigation Office participated in the searches. The agents also visited third parties who are not accused. According to investigators, documents and data storage devices were seized, “which are now being analyzed for incriminating or exculpatory evidence.”
The investigations against Bystron are related to the case surrounding the pro-Russian propaganda outlet Voice of Europe. At the end of March, the authorities of the Czech Republic imposed sanctions on the platform, considering that the Prague-based portal is actually a Russian tool to influence Europe and endanger territorial integrity, sovereignty and freedom of expression. Ukraine.
Interviews with Bystron and MEP Maximilian Krah, head of the AfD list, among others, were published on the portal. Likewise, according to information from Belgian intelligence services, networks controlled by Russia are trying to help pro-Russian candidates achieve success in the upcoming European elections. Both Bystron and Krah would be found on this list.
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Immediately, the German media was filled with headlines accusing the AfD politician of possible links to this pro-Russian propaganda network. The Czech newspaper Denik N reported, citing intelligence circles, that Bystron was suspected of receiving money from pro-Russian networks. Der SpiegelHe also reported possible payments from the platform to the AfD politician. In total, several hundred thousand euros would have been paid to European politicians.
According to the media, the Czech secret service BIS was able to listen to a conversation between Bystron and Ukrainian businessman Artem Martschewskyj, loyal to Moscow, which allegedly took place in Prague. Apparently, the BIS had tapped Martschewskyj’s car and witnessed the meeting between the two, in which money worth 20,000 euros was allegedly given to Bystron. That is the conclusion of the secret service and several deputies who heard the recording. However, the 51-year-old politician has repeatedly denied everything.
The AfD leadership stressed that so far no evidence has been provided for the accusations that have been made for weeks. The suspension of immunity and the search of Bystron’s office and private spaces were described by the leaders of the party and the parliamentary group, Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, as “a serious matter.” The parliamentary group hopes that the investigations will be concluded quickly.
For its part, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) calls for consequences. “Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla are complicit if they continue to look the other way and do not take action. We must not allow the interests of our country to be harmed by such machinations,” parliamentary secretary Katja Mast told the news portal ntv.de. Meanwhile, SPD Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote on the social network X: “Corruption, money laundering, Russian influence. Even if the presumption of innocence applies: with so many corrupt people serving foreign powers, the AfD is a great danger. While we defend our democracy against Putin, these people betray us for money.”
This search comes just a week after that of the office in the European Parliament in Brussels of Jian G., the parliamentary assistant of the far-right German MEP Maximilian Krah, accused of having spied for China.
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