“German police raid homes of AfD politicians after disturbing Telegram chats” | Abroad

As part of the investigation into the Telegram chat group ‘Alternative Nachrichtengruppe Bayern’ (Alternative Messaging Service Bavaria), officers searched two homes in Bavaria and also seized mobile phones and other data carriers. This is reported by the German public prosecutor’s office.

The two people whose homes were searched are believed to have shared messages in the 200-member Telegram group in December 2020. The duo is suspected of public incitement, the prosecutor’s office said. According to ‘Der Spiegel’ it concerns two AfD politicians, but the public prosecutor does not want to confirm this.

“Whether the suspicion is founded can be assessed at the earliest after the seized evidence has been evaluated,” said a spokesman for the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk reported on December 1 that it had gained access to the chat group, which consists largely of members of the AfD, including 16 AfD members from the Bavarian state parliament and 11 AfD members from the Bundestag, the lower house of the federal parliament. , had participated in the chat along with other politicians from the party. According to the channel, the chat group fantasized about the outbreak of a civil war, made Islamophobic comments and criticized the government’s corona policy.

The eurosceptic AfD is opposed to migration and to corona restrictions, such as wearing face masks.

Earlier this month, police in the eastern state of Saxony also raided members of another Telegram group as part of an investigation into a plot to assassinate the Saxon prime minister.

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