Authored by Thomas Brooke via Remix News,
Police and prosecutors in Munich carried out searches on Friday morning at the private residence and Bavarian State Parliament office of AfD lawmaker René Dierkes, reportedly in connection with alleged insults and social media posts dating back several years.
Dierkes, 34, who represents the Munich-East constituency in the Bavarian State Parliament, said the investigation concerns satirical posts and memes published roughly two years ago on his X account by a staff member who has since left his employment. He said authorities are also examining an alleged insult attributed to him by a former party member, which reportedly dates back five years.
In a statement released after the search, Dierkes described the investigation as politically motivated and accused rivals of attempting to discredit him.
“The background is posts on my X account that are about two years old and were written by an employee who no longer works for me,” he said, adding that an internal party rival who previously sought public office had launched “a defamation campaign against my person.”
“I will take action against this political witch hunt,” he said.
According to reporting from Bild, police officers appeared at both Dierkes’ Munich residence and his parliamentary office as part of the operation. The exact legal basis for the search was initially unclear, and the Munich public prosecutor’s office had not immediately issued a detailed statement explaining the move.
AfD state chairman Stephan Protschka sharply criticized the action, suggesting it reflected political bias by authorities.
“It is supposedly about alleged insults. In my view, this is a humiliating decision by the authorities against the opposition,” Protschka told Bild.
The search has raised additional questions because the Bavarian State Parliament did not formally vote to lift Dierkes’ parliamentary immunity beforehand.
According to Bild, investigators proceeded under a “simplified procedure,” a legal mechanism that allows searches without a prior parliamentary vote in certain cases.
Dierkes, who was elected to the Bavarian legislature in October 2023 and serves as chairman of the AfD’s Munich-East district association, has been under observation by Bavaria’s domestic intelligence service since April 2025.
The monitoring followed a review by the Bavarian State Office for the Protection of the Constitution, which concluded that surveillance was “proportionate.”
According to a response by the Bavarian state government to parliamentary inquiries from Green and Social Democratic lawmakers, officials identified statements by Dierkes that allegedly promoted “an ethnic concept of the people contrary to human dignity” and demanded “remigration in an unconstitutional manner,” as cited by BR24 last year.
Authorities also cited his significant reach on social media and his role as a prominent figure within the AfD’s regional leadership structure.
The social media reach point is contentious — Dierkes has just 6,800 followers on X and 5,600 followers on Facebook.
Dierkes has firmly rejected the state office’s interpretation of his remarks and threatened legal action last year.