Alexander Gauland has been targeted by the Frankfurt public prosecutor. The investigators accuse the AfD parliamentary group leader of tax evasion and have applied for the immunity of the member of the Bundestag to be lifted – with success. In the morning he was right Bundestag to the application.
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These are the backgrounds:
What is known about the case?
According to the investigators, it is about an old tax return. However, they did not give details of this. The public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt already had investigations against Gauland last year due to a “private tax error”, In the course of this, the Frankfurter had also applied to waive Gauland’s immunity as a member of parliament.
Shortly after the Bundestag’s decision, investigators searched the politician’s home in Potsdam. The searches only concern the suspect’s reporting address. Bundestag offices are not affected, the Frankfurt prosecutor said.
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At the end of March 2019, AfD spokesman Christian Lüth tweeted that it was “just a mistake in his tax return”. As SPIEGEL learned from well-informed circles at the time, it should not be more than 3000 euros. Now fraction spokesman Lüth confirmed that it was probably a four-digit sum and possible errors in the common tax assessment with his wife. Gauland is still married to her, but has lived separately with a new partner in Potsdam for many years; the wife still lives in Frankfurt.
What does the AfD say about the searches?
Gauland has not yet commented. Group spokesman Lüth said that the investigation and measures were considered “unjustified and disproportionate”. When it became known last spring that Gauland was being investigated, Lüth described the matter in a tweet as “pure administrative act”.
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What can Gauland expect now?
If the suspicion of tax evasion is confirmed, Gauland faces a fine. In addition, he would have to pay the amount evaded, including interest.
Are there other MPs whose immunity has been waived?
Yes. The Bundestag also voted for the lifting of the immunity of the CDU MP Karin Strenz from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The 52-year-old is suspected of bribery in connection with lobbying for Azerbaijan. After the decision in the Bundestag, about a hundred officials searched Strenz’s parliament office in the Bundestag, their private apartment, as well as other apartments, business premises and law firms in Berlin, Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Bavaria and Belgium, as the investigators said.
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In the same context, the former CSU member of the Bundestag, Eduard Lintner, is also being investigated. The authorities said that he and Strenz were accused of bribery and bribery of officials.
In mid-January, the Bundestag lifted the immunity of AfD MP Thomas Seitz from Baden-Württemberg. This should make it possible to continue disciplinary proceedings against the former public prosecutor in Freiburg. Seitz was accused of posting Islamophobic and xenophobic articles on the Internet as a public prosecutor for traffic law in Freiburg.
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