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Berlin prosecutors have filed charges against Matthias Mussdorf, a member of Far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD)To allegedly greet another member of the party nazi salute,
It comes after the Bundestag lower house of parliament voted to extend his parliamentary immunity in October.
Slogans and symbols associated with the Nazis have been used Illegal in Germany since World War II,
Their use can result in a fine or a prison sentence of up to three years.
Prosecutors said Musdorf, 60, performed heel clicks and a nazi salute Near one of the entrances to the historic Reichstag building during a parliamentary session in June 2023.
This ensured that the salute would be “visible to others”, he said.
In a statement, Mussdorf, who was a cellist before becoming a politician, rejected the allegation.
He said he was checking his wife’s coat in the cloakroom of the building at the time of the incident.
He said, “It is shameful that someone is trying to create a political spectacle at this level instead of engaging constructively with our party’s content and its political positions.”
Musdorf is the Member of Parliament for Zwickau in the former East German state of Saxony.
He has been a member of the AfD since 2016.
By May, he was the foreign policy spokesperson for the party’s parliamentary group. However, he was removed from duty in May due to his friendship with Russia.
The AfD, which is in first place in surveys across Germany ahead of five state elections next year, is building stronger ties with MAGA-aligned Republicans.
party classified As a right-wing extremist organization by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency earlier this year.
In June, Germany’s domestic spy agency revealed a worrying rise in right-wing extremism within its ranks.
According to the agency’s annual report, the number identified extremists The AfD grew by 77 percent in 2024, reaching nearly 20,000 people.