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Anti-AfD German police union VP resigns amid allegations he tortured a man during Cold War

Sven Hüber, the deputy federal chairman of Germany’s Police Union (GdP), has stepped down from his post with immediate effect following public scrutiny regarding his service as a political officer for East Germany’s border guards. Hüber recently made headlines for his stance against the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

The resignation follows investigative reporting by the German media outlet Apollo News alleging that Hüber committed severe abuses at the East German border during the Cold War prior to joining the German Federal Police. The report claims that during his tenure as an SED political officer, Hüber placed a service weapon into the mouth of a captured East German refugee in the “death strip” and physically assaulted the individual while they were pinned to the ground.

Hüber vehemently denied the allegations, framing the coverage as a coordinated effort to dismantle his reputation. In a formal press statement, he characterized the reporting as “defamatory” and a “character assassination,” explaining that his resignation was intended to “avert the daily new, untenable accusations from the GdP during the necessary legal proceedings.”

The finger is also being pointed at right-wing media, with Hüber’s attorney Johannes Eisenberg stating the claims began in “right-wing extremist media and from there overflowing into well-known inflammatory media.” Eisenberg firmly maintained that his client “did not commit the misanthropic acts spread about him there,” adding that Hüber would refrain from further public comment as he prepares to challenge the outlets in court.

The GdP similarly confirmed it plans to pursue criminal and civil legal action against authors and publishers behind what it deems false accusations, targeted threats, and distorted reporting.

Hüber’s tenure at the union had already generated significant friction prior to the recent revelations.

Writing in the official GdP members’ magazine, Hüber recently urged police officers to actively counter a potential AfD administration in Saxony-Anhalt, arguing that “police officers personally take on enemies of the constitution because the oath they take stipulates the same” and asserting that an “AfD seizure of power does not release any civil servant from their oath.”

Since Hüber’s resignation, his anti-AfD article, entitled “Saying a True No,” has been scrubbed from the GdP website, according to Apollo News, but is still archived in the police union’s newsletter.

The AfD is extremely popular in that state, reaching 43 percent support of the voting population in recent polling. Recently, a mayor in the state came under fire on social media for threatening to dismiss firefighters who posed for a photograph with Ulrich Siegmund, the highly popular AfD lead candidate in the state.

Regardless of whether the claims about torture prove true or not, Hüber has his own history of reportedly making false allegations against his rivals. He previously faced backlash for attempting to block the lifetime professorship of conservative academic Stephan Maninger at the Federal Police Academy using claims that were ultimately shown to be groundless. Attorney Ralf Höcker subsequently alleged that GdP federal chairman Jochen Kopelke backed Hüber during that campaign, using union membership fees to support the effort.

The controversy triggered a wave of exits within the organization. The Mitteldeutsche Zeitung confirmed that a “low double digits” number of police officers in Saxony-Anhalt severed their union membership following the initial reports.

Hüber finalized his decision to step down following discussions with GdP federal chairman Kopelke. The union has not yet named a replacement to fill the vacant deputy chair position.

The post Anti-AfD German police union VP resigns amid allegations he tortured a man during Cold War appeared first on Remix News.

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Germany: AfD’s Weidel alleges campaign law violations over left-wing NGO spending in critical election

Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-leader Alice Weidel has launched a fiery attack against government-aligned NGOs, accusing them of illegitimately funneling public and private funds into state election campaigns to support the far-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the Green Party.

Speaking out against the massive capital deployment in Saxony-Anhalt, Weidel called for a full legal investigation into campaign spending practices.

“What is becoming apparent here is a democratic scandal that must be fully investigated legally,” Weidel stated.

At the center of the dispute is the left-leaning advocacy group Campact, which recently disclosed plans to spend hundreds of thousands of euros on targeted voter mobilization ahead of regional balloting. Weidel argued that such political intervention crosses the threshold into unregistered campaign financing.

“When organizations with substantial financial resources deliberately campaign in favor of left-wing parties, the question arises whether they are still operating within the limits of permissible party funding,” she said, emphasizing that a mere “relabeling as ‘campaign'” should not exempt third-party groups from statutory donation oversight.

The NGO industry in Germany is well-funded and overwhelmingly against the AfD, and as newspaper Junge Freiheit describes in a new article, “is descending like locusts” on the state to stop the AfD in September. The news about Campact comes after it was revealed that left-wing parties are pouring record sums into the race in Saxony-Anhalt.

The AfD is extremely close to securing an absolute majority in Saxony-Anhalt, which would enable the party to rule without a coalition. That may be necessary, since even with 42 percent of the vote, the AfD may be kept entirely from power through a coalition consisting of all other victorious parties. Much depends on whether certain parties, like the Greens, receive 5 percent of the vote, which is the threshold required for them to enter parliament.

Weidel pointed to the current ruling coalition of the SPD and Christian Democrats (CDU), targeting political hypocrisy surrounding state funding for civil society networks.

“It is an absolute scandal when left-wing NGOs claim political neutrality on the one hand, but on the other hand engage in massive fear-mongering against opposition parties critical of the government and advocate for the election campaign interests of the SPD and the Greens,” she said.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz had initially announced he would “clean up such negative developments” surrounding the explosion in the number of NGOs and their activities in Germany. However, Weidel says that the current black-red federal alliance has done the exact opposite by expanding federal allocations toward politically active advocacy organizations.

The AfD wants to completely revamp and likely strip much of the NGO sector in Germany of its massive power and financing, at least if that funding comes from the state. The party is pressing for strict statutory reforms regarding campaign operations and nonprofit privileges. The AfD leader demanded “complete transparency about all state funding to NGOs, but also – as in the case of Campact – about clients, major sponsors and their political activities.”

She argued that tax exemptions or state subsidies ought to be “bound to clear neutrality, transparency and control requirements.”

She is also calling for a level electoral playing field: “Anyone who intervenes in political decision-making must face democratic transparency and fair competitive conditions –regardless of whether it is a party, a foundation or an NGO.”

While Weidel may be focusing her ire on Campact, the NGO itself does not receive any taxpayer euros.

The controversy is centered around documents showing major third-party expenditures were formally submitted to parliamentary auditors. Disclosures show that Campact earmarked twin campaign budgets of 310,000 euros ($340,000) each aimed at boosting turnout for both the SPD and the Greens.

For its part, Campact maintains that its activities strictly adhere to electoral laws because the organization executes independent strategy rather than transferring funds directly to party treasuries. On its official website, the group asserted that the funds would be spent “without any mandate or control by these parties.”

Describing its initiative as a parallel campaign focused on “voting strategically,” Campact rejected assertions that its spending constitutes a party contribution, even though parliamentary transparency registries log third-party expenditures in similar disclosure frameworks.

“We do not transfer money to the SPD or the Greens,” the far-left organization stated, maintaining that they are urging citizens to vote for specific parties “on their own initiative.”

The move from Campact may be open to a legal challenge, but by then such a challenge moves through the court system, the election in Saxony-Anhalt will likely have long been decided.

The post Germany: AfD’s Weidel alleges campaign law violations over left-wing NGO spending in critical election appeared first on Remix News.

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