The Würzburg regional court has revoked the arrest warrant against the Bavarian AfD member of the state parliament Daniel Halemba, which had already been suspended against certain conditions. The court announced on Tuesday that there was no longer any risk that Halemba could manipulate evidence or influence witnesses during the investigation into suspicion of sedition. The evidence has now been sufficiently secured. Halemba himself rejects the public prosecutor’s allegations.
The Würzburg district court had already partially upheld his complaint on January 9th. With regard to the remaining three allegations, the chamber denied that the risk of obscurity as a reason for detention continued to exist. Halemba’s lawyer welcomed the decision. He expects an acquittal in the end.
An arrest warrant had been issued against the young politician Halemba for incitement to hatred and for using the symbols of anti-constitutional organizations. Among other things, it was about the display of a wine bottle with SS symbols and the picture of a Hitler bodyguard, which, according to the current state of the investigation, cannot be assigned to Halemba. At the end of October – immediately before the first session of the newly elected state parliament – he was temporarily arrested. However, the Würzburg district court decided to suspend the arrest warrant under certain conditions. The new parliamentarian was therefore not taken into custody.
The 22-year-old entered parliament as a member of parliament for the Haßberge/Rhön-Grabfeld constituency after the Bavarian state elections on October 8th. At that point, the public prosecutor was already investigating him. Halemba is a member of the right-wing extremist Würzburg fraternity Teutonia Prague, whose house was searched by investigators in 2022. In addition to Halemba, other members of the fraternity are also being investigated.
Although not only the federal AfD, but also the state party conference of the Bavarian AfD have called on Halemba to resign from his state parliament mandate, the MP is sticking to his post – and enjoys the backing of his parliamentary group. He is accused in the party, among other things, of having cheated in his favor when drawing up the list for the state elections.