Lower Saxony's AfD state leader Schledde expects charges and immunity to be lifted

Lower Saxony's AfD state leader Ansgar Schledde expects charges to be brought against him. According to a statement from the AfD state association about the waiver of immunity, “charges will now be brought against me as state chairman,” said Schledde. Shortly afterwards, the state parliament unanimously decided to do so.

Schledde compared what he described as the impending indictment with "constant attacks from the state government", what he saw as the "groundless" upgrading of the AfD Lower Saxony by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the exclusion of several AfD candidates from the local elections on Sunday.

“This is a more than transparent maneuver a few days before the local elections in Lower Saxony,” said Schledde. “I still face the charges with calm.” He is convinced that the responsible court will “form its opinion about the allegations against me in a politically neutral manner and will ultimately confirm my assessment of the facts.” “I firmly reject the allegations overall.”

The Hanover public prosecutor's office has been investigating several AfD members for a long time because of possible violations of the party law and suspicion of breach of trust. The party had always rejected the allegations.

In 2024, the public prosecutor's office explained that there was an initial suspicion that an AfD member had, on the one hand, not forwarded donations immediately and, on the other hand, had not listed expenses for the party in the party's annual report. According to the then AfD state leader Frank Rinck, the allegations were directed against his then deputy Schledde. Schledde himself declared at the time, together with four other AfD MPs: “The allegations made against us have no basis.”

This spring, the investigation was expanded to include suspicions of breach of trust and another possible violation of party law. Several members of the Bundestag and state parliament as well as other AfD members are affected.

The former AfD parliamentary group leader and now non-attached MP Stefan Marzischewski-Drewes said about the removal of immunity in the state parliament: "Politics as a business model is not a political change. Politics has to serve the people and not the politicians."

Marzischewski-Drewes has been making allegations against the AfD state executive committee for several months and spoke of a “corrupt system” and a “parallel organization” within the AfD Lower Saxony. The state executive board had repeatedly rejected these allegations.