The AfD member of the state parliament Jörg Dornau has once again come into the sights of the judicial authorities. It’s about a possible violation of the Belarus sanctions.
dpa | Against the Saxon AfD politician Jörg Dornau is once again under criminal investigation. Specifically, the Leipzig public prosecutor’s office and the Dresden customs investigation office said it was an allegation of a violation of the Foreign Trade Act. He is said to have violated sanctions measures under European law.
Specifically, Dornau is accused of specifying Kazakhstan as the destination country for a telehandler in a customs declaration in August 2022 in order to conceal the export ban to Belarus – the vehicle’s actual destination country – by using transit countries. Dornau has not yet commented on this when asked.
State parliament lifts Dornau’s immunity
Dornau is the head of an agricultural company in Belarus. The state parliament lifted the MP’s immunity this morning. An usher led him out of the room. At the same time, the MP’s residential and business premises as well as his vehicles were searched by the customs investigation office. He also had to evade control himself. It was said that no rooms in the state parliament were searched. “Bild” also reported on it.
AfD parliamentary group leader Jörg Urban expressed the suspicion in the plenary session that the criminal investigations against Dornau and the house search were “politically motivated to damage our MP”. “In the Committee on Rules of Procedure and Immunity Matters, Jörg Dornau was not given the opportunity to comment. We criticize that,” said AfD parliamentary group spokesman Felix Menzel. The group was not aware of any reasons that would justify such an approach immediately before a plenary session.
“In this respect, the suspicion of a production tailored for media exploitation is obvious. The allegations against Mr. Dornau have been known for a long time. These allegations must be clarified as quickly as possible in a fair, constitutional process,” emphasized Menzel.
Previous investigations against the deputy were closed
Dornau had already been investigated in another matter. He was suspected of having employed political prisoners in his agricultural business in Belarus. The Leipzig public prosecutor’s office initiated an investigation at the time. The authority later announced that an examination revealed “no initial suspicion of crimes that could be prosecuted in Germany”. The AfD had expressly welcomed an investigation into the case and expressed confidence in the work of the investigators.
Last December, the Leipzig Administrative Court confirmed a fine imposed on Dornau by the Presidium of the Saxon State Parliament. In August 2024, Dornau was asked to transfer 20,862.27 euros because he had not reported his participation in the agricultural company in Belarus within the legally required period and had not reported his activity as a director of the company in a timely manner.
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