public prosecutors have launched two preliminary investigations into the far-right ‘s top after media reports suggested that he had received payments from foreign powers.
A spokesperson for the state prosecutor in the eastern German city of Dresden confirmed to the AFP news agency on Wednesday that initial probes have been opened against lawmaker over “alleged payments” from Russian and sources.
What payments is Krah alleged to have received?
The purpose of the preliminary proceedings, according to the spokesperson, is to establish “whether or not an initial suspicion of illegal parliamentary bribery” exists.
Krah himself told local public broadcaster MDR, which first reported the probe, that he was unaware of the steps being taken and denied any wrongdoing.
The public prosecutor said the probe has been launched “as a result of current public reporting,” referring to reports by Spiegel magazine and public broadcaster ZDF last week that Krah had been questioned by the FBI in December 2023 over possible payments from sources close to the Kremlin.
During the interrogation, the US investigators had reportedly confronted Krah with chat messages in which the sanctioned pro-Russian former politician and activist Oleg Voloshyn assured him that the problem with “compensation” for Krah’s “technical expenses” had been solved and that, from May, “it would be as it was before February.”
The words used suggested that such payment arrangements had been long established, suggestions which Krah rejected.
According to the public prosecutor, the second initial probe is investigating “alleged Chinese payments for his role as parliamentarian.”
Should the prosecutors in Dresden establish a suspicion of wrongdoing, the preliminary investigations could give way to a formal one. For that to happen, however, Krah’s parliamentary immunity would first have to be lifted.
Maximilian Krah’s pro-Russian connections
Krah’s name has cropped up regularly in recent weeks in connection with the pro-Russian online portal “Voice of Europe,” which was sanctioned by the Czech government at the end of March after Prague said it was a Kremlin-led propaganda tool.
The main figure behind the portal is said to be Viktor Medvedchuk, another pro-Russian former Ukrainian lawmaker and personal friend of , as well as Voloshyn.
Medvedchuk, who attempted to flee Ukraine in the days following , was and exchanged along with 55 other Russian prisoners of war for captured following the fall of .
Krah has reportedly had contact to Medvedchuk and Voloshyn for years, according to the reports.
The fresh investigations in Dresden come just one day after one of by the German government with committing espionage for Chinese intelligence agencies.
Krah said he would immediately sack the aid and in June’s .
The prosecutors in Dresden stated that their probe “is not connected” to the Chinese spying case.
While you’re here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.
mf/wmr (AFP, dpa)
The post Germany: AfD’s Krah faces probe on ‘Russia, China payments’ appeared first on Deutsche Welle.