Second Bundestag member, AfD member, stripped of immunity

The Bundestag has stripped the federal chairman of the Junge Alternative party, Hannes Gnauk, of parliamentary immunity.

The basis for such a decision as informt TV channel Tagesschau, were Gnauck’s statements during his service in the Bundeswehr. The disciplinary investigation is being conducted by the military prosecutor’s office.

The investigation was prompted by information that Gnauck allegedly campaigned against asylum seekers and foreigners during his time in the armed forces. The Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD), the Bundeswehr’s secret service, classified it as suspected “right-wing extremism” in 2020.

MAD classified Gnauck as an extremist, so the Bundeswehr banned him from wearing the uniform and serving. In 2021, MAD approved adding Gnauck to the list of extremists. The disciplinary proceedings, however, were suspended due to the election of the chairman of the Junge Alternative party to the Bundestag in the same year.

Hannes Gnauck said on Wednesday through the regional party organization in Brandenburg that a few weeks ago he himself submitted a written application to the President of the Bundestag with a proposal to lift his immunity. The deputy expressed hope that in this way he will be able to clear his name of the charges brought against him.

The President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas (SPD), according to Gnauck, then stated that “there was no need to deprive him of parliamentary immunity at all.”

A resident of Uckermark in Brandenburg entered the Bundestag from the AfD on the state list. According to the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, he has been the federal chairman of Junge Alternatives, the AfD’s youth organization, since October 2022.

The fact that the AfD parliamentary group sent Gnauk as its representative to the defense committee in the Bundestag caused a storm of indignation.

The committee controls the Ministry of Defense and meets secretly, German media reported. Gauck’s case was the second time immunity had been revoked. The Bundestag has already lifted the immunity of AfD MP Petr Bystron. Munich prosecutors launched an investigation into initial suspicions of bribery and money laundering and searched several sites linked to Bystron.