exclusive
The public prosecutor’s office is investigating, the police have searched the rooms of the AfD MP Bystron – now the party leadership is reacting: Bystron, number two on the European election list, should no longer appear in the election campaign.
In an email to Petr Bystron, the ARD capital studio Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel demand that Bystron should refrain from further appearances as part of our party’s election campaign for the 2024 European Parliament election until the allegations against you or the ongoing investigations against you have been clarified. The email was delivered to Bystron by AfD federal managing director Hans-Holger Malcomeß in the evening and was addressed directly to Bystron.
Bystron had performances planned for the coming days. The AfD politician with second place on the list for the European elections in the evening is still advertising it on his social media channels – two of the dates were planned for Saturday in Bavaria. When asked, Bystron explains: He had to give up his notebook during the search yesterday and therefore no longer had access to his email inbox. However, he is considering refraining from performing.
Search Bystron’s office
Bystron is accused of accepting funds from a pro-Russian network. The Munich public prosecutor’s office is investigating initial suspicions of bribery of elected officials and money laundering. Yesterday, the Bundestag lifted Bystron’s immunity, allowing extensive searches of his Bundestag office as well as properties in Bavaria and Mallorca.
The AfD’s leading candidate in the European election campaign, Maximilian Krah, who came under pressure because of suspicions of espionage, also briefly stopped his appearances at the beginning of the affair in coordination with the party leadership, but he has since resumed them. According to research by the NDR, WDRand the Süddeutsche Zeitung suspect that five-figure sums, possibly from the Chinese secret service, have regularly flowed to Krah’s employees – who is now in custody.