A parliamentary delegate of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Matthias Helferich, has reportedly been expelled from the party by the regional arbitration court of North Rhine-Westphalia. The decision, delivered Saturday following a hearing in Düsseldorf, marks a significant development within the party.
According to a report by “Welt am Sonntag” the arbitration court issued a ruling during the verbal proceedings. Helferich confirmed to the newspaper that he was removed from the hearing room during the proceedings, describing the incident as “a unique event that will go down in the history of party law.
Responding to the verdict, Helferich stated he found the decision “personally amusing because it is easily challenged”. He further characterized the expulsion as revealing a troubling power dynamic within the party, citing denied recusal requests, unheard witnesses and his removal from the hearing room.
Helferich faced restrictions on holding office following the 2021 federal election and was initially excluded from the AfD parliamentary group. These restrictions stemmed from reports regarding text messages in which he allegedly referred to himself as “the friendly face of Nazism” and maintained connections to the neo-Nazi scene. Despite these controversies, he was recently integrated into the parliamentary group following the February federal election.