A politician from the German Left Party is being investigated by police after apparently smuggling an underage African migrant into Germany.

Diether Dehm is accused of smuggling the migrant from Italy in the back of his car. While many of his fellow Left Party politicians knew about the incident, they did not report it to authorities fearing the migrant may be deported, reports Zeit Online.

According to reports, Mr. Dehm hid the young migrant in his vacation home on Lake Maggiore, near Lake Como which has become a hotbed of migrant activity as many have tried to sneak across the Swiss border in order to go on to Germany.

After a few days the left-wing politician drove the migrant across the Swiss border and on to Germany where he made contact with pro-migrant activists and passed the young man on to them.

Mr. Dehm freely admits that he smuggled the migrant and told German media that he had no regrets about his action, claiming that the African had been fleeing civil war in his own country. “I am at peace with myself,” Mr. Dehm said.

He also posted on Facebook two weeks ago a picture of what appears to be a migrant in the trunk of his car.

A pro-migrant activist had also thanked Mr. Dehm publicly on his Facebook page for his assistance in getting the migrant to Germany, claiming that he was doing so because the young African had family there.

This is not the first time a politician has attempted to smuggle illegal immigrants into their country over the past year.

In Switzerland earlier this month a left-wing politician was caught trying to smuggle African migrants into the country. Lisa Bosia Mirra, founder of a migrant aid organisation, was revealed to have participated in human trafficking after she had criticised the border policies of Switzerland.

In Sweden a well-known journalist also helped smuggle an underage migrant after he had been to Greece earlier this year. TV reporter Fredrik Önnevall, like Mr. Dehm, showed little regret in helping to smuggle the boy from Greece into Sweden. When asked if he thought he would be charged and prosecuted for human trafficking he said, “I’m not worried because I do not feel that we have committed any crime”.

Correction: Due to a mistranslation this article originally incorrectly stated that Diether Dehm had been arrested. He has not, but police are investigating his role in the case.