Overview
- Prosecutors say Moosdorf greeted a party colleague with a heel click and Hitler salute at the Reichstag’s east entrance in June 2023, ensuring it was visible to others.
- Displaying Nazi symbols or gestures is a criminal offense in Germany that can carry a prison term of up to three years.
- Moosdorf, 60, an AfD lawmaker for Zwickau, denied making the gesture and called the allegation a fabricated political spectacle, saying he was checking his wife’s coat.
- The Bundestag voted in October to lift his parliamentary immunity, clearing the way for prosecutors to bring the case.
- The AfD is designated by domestic intelligence as a right‑wing extremist organization and leads polls before state elections, while Moosdorf has faced scrutiny over pro‑Russia ties including the loss of a foreign policy role in May and an honorary post in Moscow.