As of: January 18, 2024, 6:49 p.m
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Joachim Paul, member of the federal executive board of the Alternative for Germany.
© Alternative for Germany/AfD - Alternative for Germany/obs/archive image
The immunity of AfD MP Joachim Paul has been lifted by the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament.
A spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group confirmed this at the request of the German Press Agency on Thursday in Mainz.
The “Rhein-Zeitung” had previously reported on the decision in a non-public meeting of the state parliament’s legal committee.
Mainz - According to information from the newspaper, criminal proceedings are to be carried out against the AfD MP because of a possible violation of the most personal sphere of life and personal rights by taking pictures.
“The basic purpose of lifting immunity is to enable investigations,” said the AfD spokesman.
“The lifting of immunity has no consequences with regard to Joachim Paul’s status as a parliamentary group member.”
According to media reports, the education policy spokesman for the AfD parliamentary group was recently banned from holding office by his state association.
The reason is that Paul is said to have shown a greeting at an AfD event, which is considered a symbol of right-wing radicals.
Party and parliamentary group leader Jan Bollinger did not want to comment on Thursday whether the ban on holding office existed.
On the website of the AfD Koblenz district association, Paul is still listed as a district board member.
This is not a violation of the requirements, there is no contradiction, said Bollinger when asked about the ban on office.
Paul was voted out of office as chairman of the media committee of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament in 2019.
Among other things, he was accused of having written an article for a magazine close to the NPD a few years ago.
However, he denied that.
Paul was also voted out of office as a member of the board of trustees of the State Center for Civic Education because there were alleged to have been indications of right-wing extremist ideas.
dpa