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Former AfD leader Petry charged on suspicion of perjury

The public prosecutor’s office in Dresden, Saxony, has filed charges against former Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Frauke Petry on suspicion of false oath.

Published: 4 October 2017 12:48 CEST
Former AfD leader Petry charged on suspicion of perjury
Frauke Petry. Photo: DPA.

Petry is accused of giving false testimony under oath as a witness before the state electoral committee of the Saxon parliament in November 2015, judicial authorities announced in Dresden on Wednesday. If found guilty, she could face between six months and five years jail.

Two criminal charges were filed against Petry after the 42-year-old and former AfD co-chair was accused of lying under oath regarding financing for the party’s 2014 state election campaign.

She had provided contradictory statements before the electoral committee of the Saxon parliament in regards to a list of candidates for the 2014 state election, according to prosecutors. But Petry denied these accusations.

In August, Saxony’s immunity committee unanimously voted to lift her immunity, over a year after accusations that she committed perjury had begun. This meant that an investigation of allegations that she gave false testimony was pursued. Petry herself spoke out in favour of waiving her parliamentary immunity.

Shortly after the general election last week, Petry shocked her colleagues when she announced she was leaving the AfD party with plans to form a rival party.

One other lawmaker, Mario Mieruch, also left the AfD's parliamentary faction on Wednesday, citing concern about its drift to the extreme right, but it was unclear whether he would join forces with Petry.

The regional court in Dresden will now have to decide whether to approve the charges and the opening of main proceedings against her.

POLITICS

‘Dexit’ would cost Germany 690 billion euros and millions of jobs: economists

According to the German Economic Institute (IW), Germany's exit from the EU – the so-called Dexit – would cost millions of jobs and significantly reduce the country's prosperity.

Published: 19 May 2024 18:04 CEST
'Dexit' would cost Germany 690 billion euros and millions of jobs: economists

In a study presented by the Cologne-based institute on Sunday, the authors showed that a Dexit would cause real GDP to drop by 5.6 percent after just five years. This means that Germany would lose 690 billion euros in value creation during this time.

In addition, Germany as an export nation is dependent on trade with other countries, especially with other EU countries, warned the authors. Companies and consumers in Germany would therefore feel the consequences “clearly” and around 2.5 million jobs would be lost.

The study is based on the consequences of Britain’s exit from the EU, such as the loss of trade agreements and European workers.

Taken together, the losses in economic output in Germany in the event of a Dexit would be similar to those seen during Covid-19 and the energy cost crisis in the period from 2020 to 2023, the authors warned.

Brexit is therefore “not an undertaking worth imitating,” warned IW managing director Hubertus Bardt. Rather, Brexit is a “warning for other member states not to carelessly abandon economic integration.”

Leader of the far-right AfD party Alice Weidel described Great Britain’s exit from the European Union at the beginning of the year as a “model for Germany.”

In an interview published in the Financial Times, Weidel outlined her party’s approach in the event her party came to power: First, the AfD would try to resolve its “democratic deficit” by reforming the EU. If this was not successful, a referendum would be called on whether Germany should remain in the EU.

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