Germany lifts immunity of AfD lawmaker and police search his home over China spying allegations

Germany's parliament lifted the immunity of a prominent far-right lawmaker on Thursday, after which authorities searched his home and offices following a court order.

The raids came in the wake of allegations that Maximilian Krah of the Alternative for Germany (Afd) party has had ties to China and was involved in corruption and spying scandals.

Lifting his immunity as a lawmaker was a necessary step that now allows authorities to prosecute him.

The AfD banned Krah from the EU elections last year, weeks after he told an Italian newspaper that not all members of the Nazis' elite SS unit, which was involved in major war crimes during World War II, were war criminals.

Nevertheless, he won a seat in the German parliament earlier this year as part of the party’s historic gains in the Bundestag during February's snap elections.

On Thursday, police searched his parliamentary office in Berlin, as well as his home and offices in the eastern German city of Dresden and in Brussels, where he used to be as a European Parliament lawmaker.

The searches were ordered by the Dresden Higher Regional Court, German news agency dpa reported.

There was no immediate information on the outcome of the raids.

According to dpa, the public prosecutor’s office in Dresden opened a preliminary investigation into bribery and money laundering in connection with alleged Chinese payments to Krah in May, supposedly related to his former position at the European Parliament.

Prosecutors now want to investigate whether "there are sufficient grounds to bring charges or whether the proceedings should be discontinued," the report said.

Krah has previously rejected the allegations.

AfD party leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla said in a statement Thursday that "the lifting of immunity and, in particular, the search of Mr. Krah’s office and private premises are serious matters."

They added that they "expect the investigation to be concluded swiftly and the results to be published."

He has also been under scrutiny after authorities in Brussels searched his offices at the European Parliament in connection with one of his assistants who was arrested last year on suspicion of spying for China.

The former aide, Jian Guo was charged with spying for China over a period of more than four years.

Germany's federal prosecutor's office accuses Guo of working for a Chinese intelligence service and of repeatedly passing on information on negotiations and decisions in the EU Parliament between September 2019 and April 2024, when he was arrested.