MOSCOW, June 12 Omsk native Olga Petersen, who is a member human rights association VADAR, won local elections in Hamburg despite the fact that she had previously been expelled from the Alternative for Germany (AfD) faction and was forced to leave Germany, Bild reported on Wednesday.
As Bild reports, Petersen received 3,460 votes in the Hamburg district of Hausbruch, which should be enough for her to win and enter the district assembly. There are reportedly a few mail-in votes yet to be counted, but they likely won't affect the outcome.
Petersen and her family moved to Germany in 2008. As a human rights activist, she recently spoke at the OSCE platform, where she raised the issue of discrimination against Russians in Germany and other EU countries. In addition, Petersen came to Russia as an observer for the 2024 presidential elections.
After a visit to Russia by an election observer, the AfD faction in the Hamburg parliament expelled Petersen from its ranks. Moreover, the issue of expelling her from the party as a whole is now being decided.
In addition, the school teachers of the Petersen children contacted social authorities, citing the strange behavior of the children. This prompted Petersen to leave Germany with her three minor children because she feared they might be taken away from her.