Bundestag again strips AfD's Hannes Gnauck of parliamentary immunity over far-right ties
BERLIN – On Thursday, the Bundestag unanimously voted to lift the parliamentary immunity of AfD lawmaker Hannes Gnauck. Both the deputy and his party faction supported the motion. The 34-year-old is seeking to have the German military's disciplinary proceedings against him dismissed.
Gnauck served as a professional soldier in the Bundeswehr from 2014 to 2021, most recently holding the rank of Oberfeldwebel (staff sergeant), before entering the Bundestag. On X, the politician publicly addressed the allegations against him, dismissing claims in his Wikipedia entry that he had "incited hatred against foreigners" as "lies."
According to Gnauck—a native of Brandenburg who read the accusations aloud on camera—the case primarily concerns his likes on Facebook and Twitter (now X) for his own party, its politicians (including Björn Höcke), and the former youth wing Junge Alternative (JA, or Young Alternative).
Gnauck: "I've Been Under Investigation for Six Years"
Prosecutors have also scrutinized his role as a spokesman and ambassador for the JA, which was temporarily classified as far-right by Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz. Additionally, he faces questions over liking a single article each from Compact magazine and the far-right group Ein Prozent ("One Percent").
In a post on Thursday, Gnauck shared a video statement alongside the announcement of his immunity being revoked.
Gnauck stated that the Bundeswehr's preliminary investigation had been ongoing for six years. This marks the second time his immunity has been lifted in connection with the case. In 2023, he said he had "proactively" written to then-Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD), requesting that his immunity be waived: "Because I am firmly convinced I have done nothing wrong, and these proceedings against me must finally be concluded." Bas reportedly refused, arguing it was "neither possible nor necessary."
In May 2024, his immunity was lifted after all. "The preliminary investigation continued," Gnauck said. Thirteen months later, the Bundeswehr's Northern Military Court dismissed the case (Junge Freiheit reported on this at the time). The military then appealed the ruling: "And now, ten months later, the proceedings are supposed to resume." Hence, his immunity had to be revoked once more.
In his video, Gnauck expressed confidence that the case would ultimately be dropped: "I firmly believe that no one should face disciplinary consequences simply for liking the largest democratic opposition party in the Bundestag—or its affiliated youth organization—on Facebook."
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