Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

CRIME

Ex axes door and stabs two

A stalker in the German town of Dinklage broke down his ex-girlfriend's balcony door with an axe before stabbing her to death on Tuesday. He then wounded his own sister and fled.

Published: 12 March 2008 15:07 CET

After using an axe to break down the door, the man stabbed both his 27-year-old ex-girlfriend and his sister, who happened to be visiting at the time, police said on Wednesday.

The suspect is father to two children who were also in the apartment along with a male visitor. He threatened to kill everyone in the apartment because he wasn’t allowed to see the children. When the male visitor brought the children to safety, the suspect stabbed the two women.

The 37-year-old man’s ex-girlfriend died shortly thereafter in the hospital. According to police, his sister’s wounds are not life threatening, though she remains hospitalized.

The fleeing suspect resisted arrest and was subdued with a bite from a police dog, officials said. He has refused to discuss the incident with police in the German state of Lower Saxony.

The man’s violent behavior had already aroused concern in February, and he was under a police restraining order not to go near the woman’s apartment. Family members are receiving psychological care, police said.

Germany raids properties in bribery probe aimed at AfD politician

The investigation targets Petr Bystron, the number-two candidate for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in next month’s European Parliament elections, Der Spiegel news outlet reported.

Police, and prosecutors in Munich, confirmed on Thursday they were conducting “a preliminary investigation against a member of the German Bundestag on the initial suspicion of bribery of elected officials and money laundering”, without giving a name.

Properties in Berlin, the southern state of Bavaria and the Spanish island of Mallorca were searched and evidence seized, they said in a statement.

About 70 police officers and 11 prosecutors were involved in the searches.

Last month, Bystron denied media reports that he was paid to spread pro-Russian views on a Moscow-financed news website, just one of several scandals that the extreme-right anti-immigration AfD is battling.

READ ALSO: How spying scandal has rocked troubled German far-right party

Bystron’s offices in the German parliament, the Bundestag, were searched after lawmakers voted to waive the immunity usually granted to MPs, his party said.

The allegations against Bystron surfaced in March when the Czech government revealed it had bust a Moscow-financed network that was using the Prague-based Voice of Europe news site to spread Russian propaganda across Europe.

Did AfD politicians receive Russian money?

Czech daily Denik N said some European politicians cooperating with the news site were paid from Russian funds, in some cases to fund their European Parliament election campaigns.

It singled out the AfD as being involved.

Denik N and Der Spiegel named Bystron and Maximilian Krah, the AfD’s top candidate for the European elections, as suspects in the case.

After the allegations emerged, Bystron said that he had “not accepted any money to advocate pro-Russian positions”.

Krah has denied receiving money for being interviewed by the site.

On Wednesday, the European Union agreed to impose a broadcast ban on the Voice of Europe, diplomats said.

The AfD’s popularity surged last year, when it capitalised on discontent in Germany at rising immigration and a weak economy, but it has dropped back in the face of recent scandals.

As well as the Russian propaganda allegations, the party has faced a Chinese spying controversy and accusations that it discussed the idea of mass deportations with extremists, prompting a wave of protests across Germany.

READ ALSO: Germany, Czech Republic accuse Russia of cyberattacks

Url copied to clipboard!