Espionage affair
Krah: Knew Jian G. since 2015
Maximilian Krah is the AfD’s leading candidate for the European elections. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
AfD Europe’s leading candidate Krah met his future colleague Jian G. during his time as a lawyer. In the secret service affair, he accuses the Office for the Protection of the Constitution of a targeted action.
In the conversation published on Thursday, the MEP once again attacked the security authorities and linked the arrest of his employee to the upcoming European elections: “(…) to drop this bomb at the exact time of the postal voting campaign, I stand by that “It’s no coincidence. Someone is working specifically here and we are actually dealing with an operation by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution (…).” Krah had already accused the authorities in “Stern” of having knowledge about Jian G., but of having “unconscionably not warned or informed him at any time.”
AfD in attack mode
After the initial shock of the espionage affair, the AfD has now switched from defense to attack mode and is positioning itself as a victim of a possible campaign. “There is a suspicion that this man was deliberately assigned to the AfD by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in order to harm our party,” Saxony’s AfD leader Jörg Urban said at the beginning of the week about the Jian G. case. Party leader Chrupalla said at the start of the AfD’s election campaign that it was adventurous “the means by which our party should be dismantled.”
It is known that Jian G. tried to work for the Federal Intelligence Service (BND) a few years ago, but the agency refused to cooperate, according to dpa information. The man was later reported to the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution. “Bild”, citing intelligence service files, reported that the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution had registered G. as an informant in 2007.
He provided information about possible activities by Chinese intelligence services in Germany, for example against Chinese opposition members, and information about people, companies and groups with possible contacts with Chinese intelligence services. Eight years later, according to this information, he was himself targeted by the secret services on suspicion of being a double agent.
Schuster rejects AfD speculation
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) has rejected speculation about the involvement of the Saxon Office for the Protection of the Constitution in the alleged espionage case surrounding AfD European politician Maximilian Krah. “The AfD’s highly speculative public allegations against the authorities of the Free State of Saxony have no basis,” he said in the state parliament. “There is no connection between the Saxon State Office for the Protection of the Constitution and a member of the European Parliament.” The Saxon authorities acted accurately.