Far-right AfD member charged over Hitler salute in German parliament

Berlin prosecutors have charged far-right parliamentarian Matthias Moosdorf after he allegedly gave the Hitler salute in the Bundestag, clicking his heels together as he did so.

Parliament lifted his immunity back in October. The 60-year-old member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) from the eastern state of Saxony denies the allegations.

Moosdorf is accused of using symbols of unconstitutional organizations, the public prosecutor's office said.

He is alleged to have greeted a party colleague with the Nazi gesture - which is forbidden under German law - during a Bundestag session in June 2023.

The offence is said to have taken place in the cloakroom area at the east entrance to the Reichstag building.

Moosdorf dismissed the accusations as "absurd." He told dpa that the 200-page file is based on the statements of just one person, a former Social Democratic member of parliament.

"All direct witnesses — cloakroom attendants, Bundestag police, passersby, doormen, and guests, a total of eight people — all deny the account given in the complaint," he said.

Moosdorf has also recently had trouble within his parliamentary group. In mid-September, the former foreign policy spokesman for the AfD in the Bundestag was ordered to pay an internal fine of €2,000 ($2,350) after making an unauthorized trip to Russia.