Member of far-right AfD party charged with making Nazi salute at Reichstag

Berlin prosecutors say they have charged a member of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party with making a Nazi salute in parliament.The suspect allegedly “greeted a party colleague … at the east entrance to the Reichstag building with a heel click and a Hitler salute” in June 2023, the prosecutors said in a statement issued on Monday.Making such a salute is illegal in Germany and is punishable by up to three years in prison.The newspaper Bild named the politician as Matthias Moosdorf, 60, a member of parliament for Zwickau in the former East German state of Saxony.“The accused is said to have been aware that the greeting … was visible to others in the entrance area,” the prosecutors said.Moosdorf was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in light of the allegations in October. On Monday he posted on X denying having made the gesture.Moosdorf has been a member of the AfD since 2016 and was until recently a foreign policy spokesperson for the party’s parliamentary group. He was relieved of this duty in May after his friendliness towards Russia caused friction within the party.In October 2024 it emerged that Moosdorf, a trained cellist, was an honorary professor at a Moscow music academy.