The Saxony parliament lifted Petry’s immunity from prosecution in August | Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images Ex-AfD leader Frauke Petry charged with perjury German public prosecutor accuses former party leader of lying under oath about campaign finance.

Prosecutors in Dresden on Wednesday filed perjury charges against Frauke Petry, the former leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany.

Petry is accused of giving false statements under oath to a committee of the regional parliament in Saxony in 2015 regarding the AfD’s candidates and campaign finance in Saxony’s 2014 election. Prosecutors say she told the committee that after a successful election, candidates could decide for themselves whether loans they had been given to help finance the party’s campaign should be paid back, or whether this money would be converted into a donation.

But prosecutors said in a statement that this testimony contradicted the actual terms of the loan agreements, which stated that successful candidates would forego a refund of their loans.

The Saxony parliament lifted Petry’s immunity from prosecution in August. She was the AfD’s lead candidate in the 2014 election.

Perjury in Germany carries a minimum sentence of a year in jail, though in "less serious cases" the penalty can be six months in jail.

Petry’s abrupt announcement that she was leaving the AfD came the day after she and the party won their first seats in the national parliament on September 24.

Her departure came after months of conflict with other party leaders over the AfD’s future direction.

On Tuesday, another new AfD member of parliament, Mario Mieruch, told Bild that he was leaving the party. Mieruch said his reason for quitting was the party's further shift to the right.

Mieruch also said he wanted to work with Petry as she plans to form her own party in the Bundestag.

Rosemary Belson contributed reporting.