Halemba’s Lawyer Denies Prosecution’s Allegations and Challenges Arrest Warrant

Halemba’s lawyer rejects the prosecution’s allegations

On Saturday, Halemba’s lawyer rejected the Würzburg public prosecutor’s allegations of sedition. From his point of view and after “preliminary assessment, there is no truth to all the allegations against the members of Prague Teutonia,” says a press release from lawyer Dubravko Mandić. The investigation against his client is being conducted for “politically motivated reasons”. There is “no urgent suspicion whatsoever,” writes the lawyer, who, according to his website, has offices in Freiburg, Leipzig and Zurich.

At the same time, Mandić criticizes the actions of the Bavarian authorities. The police put pressure on a co-accused to get him to make an incriminating statement to the detriment of others. When this failed, an arrest warrant was issued against his client. Mandić’s press release goes on to say that the items sought in the original search warrant – including a bottle of wine – were not found. According to the prosecutor, there were unconstitutional symbols on the wine bottle. However, “other suspicious material” was found during the house search, which has now been used to “enrich” the arrest warrant.

Mandić filed an arrest complaint with the Würzburg district court on Friday evening. The lawyer announced that he would exhaust all legal remedies up to the Federal Constitutional Court.

Halemba itself has not yet been found

The Bavarian Ministry of the Interior told BR24 early Saturday evening that a search for Halemba was currently underway, but he had not yet been found. The Lower Franconia police headquarters also announced that the 22-year-old had not yet been arrested. “Mr Halemba is not yet in custody,” said a police headquarters spokesman. In principle, the police exhaust all “tactical investigative options” to arrest someone with an arrest warrant, the spokesman continued.

Investigations: No influence on the AfD’s parliamentary group strength

The investigations against Halemba have no influence on the parliamentary group strength in the state parliament. Even in the event that the AfD politician had to resign after a possible conviction, the number of elected AfD representatives would be replenished through a replacement process. The right-wing populists emerged from the state elections as the third strongest faction.

With information from dpa