European Parliament lifts immunity of AfD MP

The public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf accuses EU MP Gunnar Beck of having committed crimes in a department store. So that this can be investigated, the European Parliament has now lifted the AfD politician’s immunity.

At the request of the Düsseldorf public prosecutor’s office, the European Parliament has lifted the immunity of AfD MP Gunnar Beck. It had previously become known through a report by Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee that the 58-year-old was being investigated for the theft of low-value items, intentional bodily harm and resistance to law enforcement officers.

A majority of MPs voted in Parliament to accept the motion to waive immunity. Therefore, nothing formally stands in the way of further investigations against Beck. In Beck’s opinion, the prosecutor’s allegations are unfounded.

Attempted theft of product samples

Specifically, according to the Legal Committee report, Beck is said to have tried to steal product samples in a department store in Neuss in North Rhine-Westphalia on October 29, 2022. Accordingly, a criminal complaint was then filed for shoplifting.

Beck also allegedly tried to leave the store and was detained by store detectives. Enforcement officers then intervened. Beck did not follow orders not to resist, the report said, citing investigators in Germany. The public prosecutor’s office in Düsseldorf initially did not provide any further details upon request.

When asked by the dpa news agency, Beck said: “The accusations made by the public prosecutor are unfounded.” The proceedings were originally discontinued, but “a change of responsibility in the case processing for political reasons led to it being reopened.” Beck said the Legal Affairs Committee’s report was prejudicial.

Conviction for another reason as early as 2022

In 2022, the AfD MEP was sentenced to a fine of 9,200 euros for misuse of his title. He introduced himself as a professor in Germany. The district court in Neuss found the 58-year-old guilty almost two years ago.

Beck had previously admitted that he had said during an appearance before an AfD representative meeting in Magdeburg in 2018: “I am a professor and specialist lawyer for EU law in London.” But he didn’t mean to claim that he had a professorship, Beck argued.

Another AfD MEP also had his immunity revoked during this legislative period. The background was controversial statements by Nicolaus Fest about the Green politician Volker Beck. He reported Fest because Fest had described him as a “notorious liar and pedophile” on X, formerly Twitter, in September 2021.