Ex-German AfD Aide Faces Prison Sentence Over China Espionage
(MENAFN) A German court has handed down a sentence of four years and nine months to a former assistant of Alternative for Germany (AfD) lawmaker Maximilian Krah, after finding him guilty of espionage on behalf of China.
The Higher Regional Court in Dresden ruled that Jian G. had conducted "intelligence activities of a particularly serious nature" during his tenure in Krah's office at the European Parliament between 2019 and 2024.
Prosecutors claimed that Jian G. had collected and passed on confidential documents to Chinese officials while working for Krah. They further alleged that he compiled personal data on AfD leadership figures and conducted surveillance on Chinese dissidents living in Germany.
Throughout the trial, Jian G. firmly denied the charges. "I have not worked for a Chinese intelligence service and I am innocent," he insisted during a hearing last week.
Meanwhile, a co-defendant, Yaqi X., a Chinese national, received a suspended sentence of one year and nine months. She admitted to sharing information while employed at a logistics company at Leipzig Airport but denied any involvement in espionage.
AfD lawmaker Maximilian Krah has repeatedly rejected claims that he was aware of his former assistant's alleged espionage activities. "I have taken the necessary consequences immediately after the arrest and significantly increased security in my office," Krah told media.
Krah, now a member of the German Bundestag, is also under investigation in a separate case. Dresden prosecutors are probing him on charges of corruption and money laundering related to alleged Chinese payments. Recently, the German parliament lifted Krah's immunity to allow for searches of his property.
Krah has denied all allegations, calling them "absurd, fabricated, and purely politically motivated."
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