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“Rust with money and count it”: New recordings are said to weigh heavily on AfD politician Bystron

2024-04-20T15:13:12.402Z



AfD politician Petr Bystron is accused of accepting money from a pro-Russian propaganda network. New recordings probably put more stress on him.

Berlin – New details have become public regarding the alleged involvement of AfD politician Petr Bystron with the pro-Russian propaganda platform “Voice of Europe”. As Der

Spiegel

reported, citing insider information, video recordings from the Czech secret service are said to show Bystron accepting several packages from “Voice of Europoe” boss Artem Martschewskyj.

Bystron is in second place on the AfD's list for the European elections - which makes the allegations that the platform has supported Russian interests in Germany all the more serious. The website is said to have spread pro-Russian propaganda in 16 languages. Politicians who have established themselves as pro-Kremlin are said to have received money from the company, as the Czech secret service reported. This is about at least 500,000 euros. Bystron recently denied receiving money from “Voice of Europe” and repeatedly rejected the allegations.

“Rustles with money on the recording” – Bystron in distress after new recordings

The secret service's video recordings are said to show Bystron receiving several small packages from Marchevsky. An evaluation paper speaks of an “unidentifiable object”. But that's not all: in addition to the video recordings, there are also audio recordings that would suggest that the contents of the packages could have been money.

The Czech daily newspaper

Deík N

, ARD's

Contrasts

and Die

Zeit

jointly reported on Friday (April 19) about the existence of two audio recordings on which Bystron can be heard. Several Prague parliamentarians who are responsible for monitoring the intelligence service heard the recordings. One of the deputies then reportedly said: “Bystron is on the recording rustling money and counting it.”

Silence about the Bystron affair – AfD wants to stand behind EU candidates

Bystron is said to have initially responded evasively to an inquiry from Die

Zeit

, but then denied all allegations of having received money. No further written questions were answered. In general, Bystron keeps a low profile when it comes to its involvement in the propaganda network. In a letter to the party leadership from the beginning of April, which is available to the

dpa

, Bystron writes that at no time did it receive any money or cryptocurrencies from “an employee of VoE (or any Russian)”. In addition to Bystron, Maximilian Krah, AfD's top candidate for the EU elections, is also accused of being involved in the network.

He wasn't even present at the current hour in the Bundestag on the corruption allegations - as were the two AfD parliamentary group leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. The only speaker from the AfD that day was the parliamentary group leader Stefan Keuter - who is accused of having worked on behalf of the Chinese secret service MSS. He also rejected the allegations against his party colleague. Bystron did not accept any money from “Voice of Europe”. "Point. That's a fact. This settles the matter.”

On the sidelines of a state party conference of the Lower Saxony AfD, Chrupalla continued to give Bystron and Krah the support of the party leadership, as the dpa reported. Because no evidence or proof is available so far, the party has no choice but to “stand behind the two of them as of today.”

Outrage over alleged Kremlin propaganda: “mouthpiece for the Kremlin and for Lukashenko”

The allegations have sparked a wave of outrage. The AfD has long been criticized for its Russia-friendly policies. The deputy parliamentary group leader of the SPD, Dirk Wiese, spoke sharply against the AfD during the current hour in the Bundestag on April 11th. He accused the party of being a “mouthpiece for dictators, a mouthpiece for the Kremlin and for Lukashenko.” Wiese had another piece of advice for Bystron: “Apply for a mandate in the Russian State Duma, these are the interests you represent, they actually belong there and nowhere else.” (nhi)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2024-04-20

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