Germany’s Bundestag has lifted the parliamentary immunity of two Alternative for Germany (AfD) MPs, Stephan Brandner and Matthias Moosdorf, paving the way for criminal investigations that the party has described as politically motivated.
Die Welt reports that the decision, backed by MPs from the CDU/CSU, SPD, Greens, and Left Party, allows prosecutors to proceed with cases against the pair. Brandner, deputy AfD leader, is accused of insulting a Spiegel journalist by calling her a “fascist,” while Moosdorf faces allegations of having made a Nazi salute in a side room of the Reichstag more than two years ago.
The AfD abstained from the vote, denouncing what it views as a campaign to discredit opposition voices. Brandner has long rejected the charge, saying: “To interpret anything unlawful into my words requires an imagination I do not possess.”
The investigation into Moosdorf adds to what AfD figures call a growing pattern of judicial harassment against the party’s representatives.
