European Parliament strips AfD MEP of immunity over defamation

The European Parliament has decided to strip MEP Siegbert Dröse, a representative of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, of his parliamentary immunity. The measure is the next step in legal proceedings against the politician, who has been accused of defamation.

The initiative to lift the protection was submitted by the German Ministry of Justice. The goal is to allow the appellate proceedings in the case to continue, after Dröse was convicted on two counts of defamation in April 2024. According to available information, the politician used insulting descriptions toward a journalist on the social network X (formerly Twitter).

Initially, the District Court in Dresden imposed a fine on Dröse, against which he filed an appeal. Although he was elected as an MEP shortly after the trial, the Parliament in Brussels determined that the incident is not related to his legislative activities. The decision emphasizes that Dröse's actions were committed before his official entry into his mandate at the European Parliament and therefore do not threaten the independence of the institution.