Far-right German political party fined over illegal donations
Alice Weidel and her AfD political party had denied any impropriety over the donations.
Keystone / Henning Kaiser
A German political party with a far-right agenda has been fined more than €500,000 (CHF540,000) for accepting illegal donations, partly from a Swiss-based pharmaceutical company.
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Partido alemão de extrema-direita multado por receber doações ilegais
More than €130,000 was paid in installments from Swiss accounts for the benefit of prominent Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Alice Weidel, the German authorities have found. The party was also found to have illegally accepted a separate sum to fund a political event. Part of this €36,000 funding came from a Swiss-based PR company.
The AfD party, which denied the charges, has been fined a sum totaling three times the value of the illegal donations following a two-year investigation by the German authorities.
German law only allows for party donations from outside the European Union if they are made by German citizens. Every campaign donation above €50,000 needs to be immediately reported to parliament’s president.
According to the German media publication SPIEGELExternal link and broadcaster ARDExternal link, a German billionaire real estate mogul who lives in Zurich was behind the “Campaign donation Alice Weidel” payments. The sum was spilt into several smaller tranches and paid through the pharmaceutical firm to avoid detection.
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Germany requests Swiss help in AfD party funding case
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Germany has filed a request for mutual legal assistance with Switzerland with regard to potentially illegal donations made through a Swiss company.
Zurich company accused of donating to German far-right party
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A pharmaceutical company in Zurich reportedly donated more than €130,000 to the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
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