German prosecutors in the land of Saxony have opened a preliminary investigation into reports that far-right lawmaker Jorg Dornau used prisoner labor at his farm in Belarus. Dornau is a member of the far-right populist Alternative for Germany party (AfD) and co-owns Zybulka-Bel Ltd., an agricultural production company in Belarus. A recent media report by independent Belarusian website Reform.news alleged that activists jailed by Minsk on administrative charges in 2020 were sent to work at onion plantations belonging to Dornau's company. The AfD's general secretary in Saxony, Jan Zwerg, said the party "welcomes the fact that this case is now being investigated in a legally clean and fact-based manner. We trust the independent Saxon judiciary." Kerstin Koeditz, a lawmaker in the Saxony parliament, told RFE/RL last month that if the allegations are found to be true, Dornau must resign. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Georgian Service, click here.
Prison Labor Allegations Surrounding German Lawmaker's Farm In Belarus Investigated
Jorg Dornau (file photo).