In the process of the party membership of the Brandenburg state parliament member Andreas Kalbitz in the AfD, the court withdrew to a consultation on Friday after a short hearing. In a discussion with Kalbitz’s lawyers and the AfD federal executive board, the presiding judge, Hans-Joachim Luhm-Schier, had previously stated that the only question to be clarified was whether Kalbitz had lawfully become a member of the AfD. The hearing should continue in the morning.
In the discussion, Luhm-Schier pointed out that Kalbitz had not stated his one-year membership in the Republicans in Bavaria in his application for admission to the AfD. Therefore, party membership was lawfully contestable. “He didn’t become a member because he made contestable statements,” said Luhm-Schier. This led to the party being deceived.
The federal arbitration court of the AfD, like the federal executive board before it, declared Kalbitz’s party membership null and void in the summer of 2020. When he joined the party in 2013, he was accused of failing to declare a previous membership in the now banned right-wing extremist German Youth (HDJ) and in the Republicans between late 1993 and early 1994. Kalbitz denies membership in the HDJ.
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