The federal leader of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, is facing accusations of plagiarism in connection with her dissertation. The right-wing politician, on the other hand, senses a political campaign.
The University of Bayreuth announced on Friday that it would be conducting an investigation into “suspicions of plagiarism”. Weidel dismissed the allegations in a video on the X Platform (formerly Twitter). She spoke of a campaign against them – given the relatively high poll numbers for the AfD.
Weidel’s statement for review:
The “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported that two plagiarism detectors had contacted the University of Bayreuth. They therefore accuse Weidel of not or insufficiently identifying the sources of individual passages, coherent sentences or even sentence fragments in her 2011 dissertation, which was awarded ‘summa cum laude’. The newspaper has the submitted text.
Decision not before the end of January
The University of Bayreuth announced: “The report of suspected plagiarism has now been submitted to the Commission for Scientific Integrity of the University of Bayreuth. He will decide whether there will be a formal investigation.” This decision is not expected before the end of January.
The “SZ” quoted the lead author of the text submitted to the university: “We do not see large-scale plagiarism in Ms. Weidel’s dissertation, but we see many small fragments of plagiarism. There is a suspicion of plagiarism here.” According to the newspaper, both authors wish to remain anonymous – for fear of possible dangers to themselves and their family members. But they are known to the newspaper.
Weidel is calm
Weidel explained in her video, “My dissertation has probably already been checked by dozens of plagiarism checkers with as much detail and attention as it has to no avail.” She speaks of ‘citation errors’ that would be inflated to plagiarism. The ‘political motivation’ is obvious. “In the meantime, I have requested an independent statement from an academic concluding, and I quote, ‘that the allegations are dismissed as absurd and the allegations of plagiarism are considered unfounded’.”
According to “SZ”, the scientist is one of the authors who allegedly used Weidel illegally. She herself said she was calm about further developments.
Weidel is also the leader of the AfD in the German Bundestag. In national surveys, the party currently stands at 20 to 23 percent, second after the Union and ahead of the SPD and the Greens.
Source: Krone
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