The EU Parliament in Strasbourg has lifted the immunity of AfD MP Gunnar Beck, thereby clearing the way for criminal investigations in Germany. The majority of the plenary session voted on Thursday to revoke Beck's legal inviolability. This followed an application from the Düsseldorf judiciary. She has the AfD politician in her sights on suspicion of shoplifting.

The public prosecutor's office in Düsseldorf is investigating Beck because he is said to have stolen samples of test products from a department store in the North Rhine-Westphalian city of Neuss in October 2022. He was detained by department store detectives and is said to have resisted police officers.

According to the parliamentary motion, the official allegations are of "theft of low-value items with intentional bodily harm and resistance to law enforcement officers."

Regardless of the investigation, Beck will retain his parliamentary mandate for the time being. He has been sitting for the AfD in the European Parliament since 2019, the legislative period ends with the European elections from June 6th to 9th. Beck is a lawyer and is a member of the EU Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, among other things.