An aide to a far-right German member of the European Parliament Maximilian Krah has been remanded in custody on suspicion of spying for China, the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Karlsruhe announced on Wednesday.
An investigating judge issued an arrest warrant against Krah’s aide, according to a spokeswoman for the office. The aide is charged with acting as an agent for a foreign secret service.
According to the federal prosecutor’s office, the aide is alleged to have passed on information from the European Parliament to China.
Federal prosecutors reported the arrest in Dresden on Tuesday, without linking the arrest to Krah, who is the AfD’s top candidate in upcoming European elections. Prosecutors said the suspect had also spied on Chinese opposition members in Germany.
Krah is a member of committees on international trade, as well as the subcommittees on human rights and security and defence, and is also part of a delegation for relations with the US.
Prosecutors said the suspect was detained by police in Dresden, in the state of Saxony on Monday. The accused’s flats were searched.