Wednesday June 23, 2021
According to Petry’s disclosure book
AfD boss Meuthen in the sights of the judiciary
In the middle of the federal election campaign, the AfD donation affair reaches party chairman Meuthen. The Berlin public prosecutor’s office investigates hidden cash flows and examines an initial suspicion. The revelations of the ex-AfD chairman Petry should play a role.
The Berlin Public Prosecutor’s Office is investigating the AfD donation affair against party leader Jörg Meuthen. This is reported by the news portal t-online. In the course of the preliminary investigation against the former federal treasurer Klaus Fohrmann for violating the political party law, there is a test to determine whether there is an initial suspicion against the AfD chairman, said Chief Public Prosecutor Martin Steltner. The latest allegations that ex-party leader Frauke Petry had raised against Meuthen were part of it, the report said. Basically, the question is who is responsible for possible misstatements in the party’s statement of accounts.
The public prosecutor’s office has been investigating for the AfD since 2019 on the basis of disguised campaign aids from Swiss Goal AG and the “Association for the Preservation of the Rule of Law and Civil Liberties”. The Bundestag administration has already imposed heavy fines on the party for several donations. At the same time, the Konstanz public prosecutor’s office is investigating similar allegations against the parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel.
Petry’s disclosure book burdens AfD leaders
In the past week, Petry had made serious allegations against the current top staff of the party. It was about the acceptance of illegal party donations and the influence of the donors on the politicians. “How the AfD presented itself to the voters was no longer determined by them as politicians or members of parliament, but by those who corrupted them with money,” says an excerpt from Petrys’ announced book “Requiem for the AfD”, t-online.de published.
After accepting hidden donations, party chairman Jörg Meuthen defected to the now disbanded right wing, Petry claims. Bundestag faction leader Alice Weidel, the top candidate in the federal election, gave up her opposition to the Thuringian AfD politician and former leader of the “wing” Björn Höcke and subsequently received money.
No comment from Meuthen on allegations
According to Petrys, the money flowed from networks around the billionaire Baron August von Finck junior, his company Degussa Goldhandel and the billionaire Henning Conle. Both men have been mentioned several times in reports of covert donations to the AfD.
Petry told the ZDF program “Frontal21” and the research network Correctiv: “I am aware that Jörg Meuthen has channeled illegal donations from Henning Conle past the official party committees into illegal channels, among other things to support the social media presence of the Political party.” According to ZDF and Correctiv, Meuthen did not want to comment on donations from Conle.
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