Prosecutors in Berlin have filed charges against the far-right Alternative for Germany’s (AfD) Matthias Moosdorf for allegedly greeting another party member with the banned Nazi salute during a parliamentary session, they said in a statement on Monday.

The Bundestag lower house of parliament voted in October to lift the Russia-friendly cellist-turned-politician’s parliamentary immunity, paving the way for the charges.

According to prosecutors, Moosdorf, 60, performed a heel click and a Nazi salute near one of the entrances of the historic Reichstag building during a parliamentary session in June 2023, ensuring the salute “would be perceptible to others.”

In Germany, the use of slogans and symbols linked to anti-constitutional groups, including the Nazis, has been illegal since World War Two.

In a statement, Moosdorf rejected the accusation that he had performed the Hitler salute while checking his wife’s coat at the building’s cloakroom.

“It is shameful that someone is trying to fabricate a political spectacle at this level instead of constructively engaging with the content of our party and its political positions,” he said.

The AfD, which is already polling first in surveys across Germany ahead of five state elections next year, has been forging stronger ties with MAGA-aligned Republicans.

The party was classified earlier this year by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency as a right-wing extremist organisation.