German prosecutors raid far-right AfD's headquarters

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) says public prosecutors "copied complete hard disks, mailboxes and file folders'' during a raid on the party's national headquarters in Berlin on Wednesday.  

"Since this morning, the Berlin public prosecutor's office has been conducting a house search in the premises of the federal headquarters of Alternative for Germany, without any prior inquiry having been directed to the AfD regarding the facts to be clarified,'' the party said in a statement.

The AfD, which has 79 of 736 seats in the Bundestag, began life as a party critical of eurozone policies but has since moved further right and is now known for its vehement anti-immigration and nationalist stance.

What was the search about?

According to the German public broadcaster ARD, investigators sought access to the official email account of former AfD chairman Jörg Meuthen and that of the party's treasurer during the period in question: 2016 to 2018.

Meuthen and his party are accused of making false statements in accountability reports to parliament, media reported.

The former AfD boss, who still represents the party in the European Parliament, has had his parliamentary immunity lifted. 

A party spokesperson said: "There is apparently a need for clarification on a few points regarding the 2016-to-2018 accountability reports and the 2017 election campaign financing."

Party co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla criticized the raid. Weidel called it a "highly unusual and extremely disproportionate measure to intimidate the AfD." 

Chrupalla said the party "would have answered accordingly and provided documents" if it had been asked in advance.

tj/wd (AP, dpa)

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