Latest news with #Krah
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German prosecutors move to strip AfD lawmaker's immunity amid bribery probe
BERLIN (Reuters) - Public prosecutors in Germany have moved to strip a politician from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of his immunity as a lawmaker after initiating a probe into bribery and money laundering allegations, local media reported on Friday. Prosecutors in the eastern city of Dresden confirmed that an investigation had been initiated against a German lawmaker on charges of bribery while he was a member of the European Parliament as well as money laundering in connection with Chinese payments. The prosecutors did not name the suspect. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, the probe is focused on Maximilian Krah, one of the new cohort of AfD politicians who entered the German parliament after February's federal election. Krah's office was not immediately available for comment on the report, which was also carried by Der Spiegel magazine. Last month German authorities arrested a former aide of Krah on suspicion of having used his position to gather information for the Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese dissidents. The man, identified as Jian G., obtained more than 500 documents to transfer to China, including some classified by the European Parliament as particularly sensitive, the federal prosecutors' office said in a statement. Krah has not commented publicly on the case since his former aide's arrest. Two years ago, when a member of the European Parliament, he dismissed allegations then surfacing that his aide had been lobbying for China as slander against himself.
Straits Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
German prosecutors move to strip AfD lawmaker's immunity amid bribery probe
Member of far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Maximilian Krah arrives for a fraction meeting following the German general elections in Berlin, Germany, February 25, 2025. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo BERLIN - Public prosecutors in Germany have moved to strip a politician from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of his immunity as a lawmaker after initiating a probe into bribery and money laundering allegations, local media reported on Friday. Prosecutors in the eastern city of Dresden confirmed that an investigation had been initiated against a German lawmaker on charges of bribery while he was a member of the European Parliament as well as money laundering in connection with Chinese payments. The prosecutors did not name the suspect. According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, the probe is focused on Maximilian Krah, one of the new cohort of AfD politicians who entered the German parliament after February's federal election. Krah's office was not immediately available for comment on the report, which was also carried by Der Spiegel magazine. Last month German authorities arrested a former aide of Krah on suspicion of having used his position to gather information for the Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese dissidents. The man, identified as Jian G., obtained more than 500 documents to transfer to China, including some classified by the European Parliament as particularly sensitive, the federal prosecutors' office said in a statement. Krah has not commented publicly on the case since his former aide's arrest. Two years ago, when a member of the European Parliament, he dismissed allegations then surfacing that his aide had been lobbying for China as slander against himself. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
CNA
30-04-2025
- Politics
- CNA
China urges Germany to 'stop smearing and vilifying' it in spy case
BEIJING: China on Wednesday (Apr 30) warned Germany against "smearing and vilifying" it after a former aide to a scandal-hit lawmaker from the far-right AfD party was charged over spying on behalf of Beijing. The alleged spy, named by prosecutors as Jian G, is suspected of working with Chinese intelligence since 2002, including while he was an aide to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Maximilian Krah between 2019 and 2024. "We urge the German side to stop smearing and vilifying China, and to take concrete actions to uphold the positive momentum in the development of bilateral relations," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said. "The so-called 'China espionage threat' is purely fabricated and malicious slander," Guo said, adding China "has always upheld the principles of mutual respect". Krah was the party's top candidate in last year's European elections, but was excluded from its delegation after comments in which he minimised the crimes of the Nazis' notorious SS. Krah has since been welcomed back into the AfD fold and was elected as an MP in the German parliament in February's snap general election. Prosecutors said Jian G, a German national, used his job as Krah's assistant to "gather information on the deliberations and decisions of the European parliament" for Chinese intelligence, including "procuring more than 500 documents, some of which had been classified as particularly sensitive". He is also suspected of gathering intelligence on leading AfD politicians and spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany. This included posing as an opponent of the Chinese government on social media in order to gain contacts in the opposition scene. The European Parliament, which had listed Jian Guo as an accredited assistant to Krah, moved to suspend the aide after his arrest in April 2024. Prosecutors said a Chinese national named as Yaqi X has also been charged with helping Jian G to access information on flights and passengers at Leipzig Airport. She worked at a company which provided the airport with logistics services. The information she passed on focused on flights transporting defence equipment and "people with links to a German arms company". At the time of her arrest in October, news site Der Spiegel reported that Yaqi X. had in particular targeted the arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights. Krah's various scandals have not dampened his political fortunes – or indeed those of the AfD more widely. In February's election the party had its best-ever performance, doubling its vote share to more than 20 per cent and becoming the second-biggest group in parliament, with 152 seats out of a total of 630.
Local Germany
30-04-2025
- Politics
- Local Germany
AfD German lawmaker's former aide charged over spying for China
The man, named by prosecutors as Jian G., is suspected of working with Chinese intelligence since 2002, including while he was an aide to the Alternative for Germany (AfD) MEP Maximilian Krah between 2019 and 2024. Krah was the party's top candidate in last year's European elections, but was excluded from its delegation after comments in which he minimised the crimes of the Nazis' notorious SS. Krah has since been welcomed back into the AfD fold and was elected as an MP in the German parliament in February's snap general election. Prosecutors said in a statement that Jian G., a German national, used his job as Krah's assistant to "gather information on the deliberations and decisions of the European parliament" for Chinese intelligence, including "procuring more than 500 documents, some of which had been classified as particularly sensitive". He is also suspected of gathering intelligence on leading AfD politicians and spying on Chinese dissidents in Germany. This included posing as an opponent of the Chinese government on social media in order to gain contacts in the opposition scene. The European Parliament, which had listed Jian Guo as an accredited assistant to Krah, moved to suspend the aide after his arrest in April 2024. Prosecutors said a Chinese national named as Yaqi X. has also been charged with helping Jian G. to access information on flights and passengers at Leipzig Airport. She worked at a company which provided the airport with logistics services. The information she passed on focused on flights transporting defence equipment and "people with links to a German arms company". Advertisement At the time of her arrest in October, news site Der Spiegel reported that Yaqi X. had in particular targeted the arms giant Rheinmetall, which is involved in making Leopard tanks and which uses Leipzig airport for cargo flights. Krah's various scandals have not dampened his political fortunes -- or indeed those of the AfD more widely. In February's election the party had its best-ever performance, doubling its vote share to more than 20 percent and becoming the second-biggest group in parliament, with 152 seats out of a total of 630.
AsiaOne
29-04-2025
- Politics
- AsiaOne
Former aide to German far-right politician charged with China espionage, World News
BERLIN — German prosecutors have accused a former aide to a European lawmaker for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) of using his position to gather information for the Chinese intelligence service and of spying on Chinese dissidents. The man, identified as Jian G., obtained more than 500 documents to transfer to China, including some classified by the European parliament as particularly sensitive, the federal prosecutors office said in a statement. Jian G., who worked for former European member of parliament Maximilian Krah, collected information about leading AfD politicians, it said. He also spied on Chinese opposition members and dissidents in Germany, for example posing on social media as a critic of the Chinese government in order to obtain information from actual dissidents, it added. The Chinese embassy in Berlin, the AfD and Krah's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Separately, prosecutors accused a woman they identified as Yaqi X. who worked at a logistics company at Leipzig airport of passing Jian G. information concerning the transport of military goods and individuals connected to a German defence company. Both Jian G. and Yaqi X. were arrested last year and remain in pre-trial detention. Krah, who had dismissed allegations two years ago that his aide was lobbying for China as slander against himself, is one of the new cohort of AfD politicians joining the German parliament this year. Anxiety about alleged Chinese spying has mounted across Europe over the last year. A Chinese man was arrested on the territory of a German naval base, police said in December, and a public broadcaster said prosecutors were considering spying charges. A Swedish court in April ordered the detention of a man suspected of spying on ethnic Uyghurs for China. [[nid:717110]]
