Court issues conditions
No pre-trial detention for Daniel Halemba: AfD politician plans to appear in the state parliament
AfD politician Daniel Halemba leaves the courthouse at the Würzburg regional court with his lawyer Dubravko Mandic.
© Heiko Becker / DPA
Arrest warrant, escape, arrest: After days of searching, the young AfD politician Daniel Halemba is arrested. But he will not be taken into custody. Now he wants to appear in Munich.
In addition, he is prohibited from contact with members of the “Brschenschaft Teutonia Prag zu Würzburg”, including other suspects who are also the focus of investigations. He was not allowed to enter the student association’s premises. “We are watching Mr. Halemba closely,” said Seebach.
The background is investigations by the public prosecutor’s office against the 22-year-old and four other suspects, including for incitement to hatred and the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations.
According to his own information, Halemba has been a member of the “Brschenschaft Teutonia Prag zu Würzburg” since 2021, which was raided in September. The investigators suspected that there could be objects in the fraternity’s fraternity house with symbols of the National Socialist Party, NSDAP, as well as stickers and writings of a racist nature. The evaluation confirmed the suspicion, said Seebach.
The student association has not yet commented on the allegations in response to a dpa request; Halemba denies them.
Prosecutor: Daniel Halemba remains at risk of absconding
For Seebach, the district court’s decision does not change the suspicion against Halemba. There is still a risk of blackout and escape. If there is a risk of blackout, there is a fear that the accused could influence witnesses or destroy evidence. Halemba had an influence on other accused, said Seebach. He also went into hiding for days and was inaccessible to investigators.
The public prosecutor’s office wants to decide this Tuesday whether to lodge an appeal against the court decision. The regional court would then have to deal with the case.
The Bavarian Constitutional Court is also expected to provide information about the Halemba case on Tuesday. Halemba’s lawyer had filed a so-called interim order there. A court spokesman in Munich did not want to comment on the content. He simply said on Monday that the respondents were the state government and the Ministry of Justice.
Halemba was provisionally arrested on Monday
The Constitutional Court can issue an interim order if this is urgently necessary to avert serious disadvantages, to prevent imminent violence or for another important reason.
Halemba’s lawyer told the German Press Agency: “He is an elected member of parliament, and in my opinion he has a claim against the government and the Ministry of Justice to instruct their officials that they no longer execute the arrest warrant.” Halemba was unable to attend the inaugural session of the state parliament in Munich on Monday afternoon.
The student was arrested near Stuttgart on Monday after a day-long search based on an arrest warrant issued on Thursday.
Halemba leads the Würzburg AfD district association and ran in the Haßberge/Rhön-Grabfeld district in the state elections on October 8th.
Members of parliament generally enjoy immunity. However, the state parliament lifted Halemba’s immunity in its constituent session on Monday.