In the summer of 2016, the so-called Regensburg corruption scandal became public, and some of the associated court proceedings have not yet been concluded. From the end of January, a part is to be negotiated in Munich – that causes trouble.
Regensburg/Munich (dpa/lby) – The so-called Regensburg corruption affair is moving again. In November 2021, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) dealt with the judgments against the former Lord Mayor of Regensburg, Joachim Wolbergs, and partially overturned the first judgment and referred it to the Munich I Regional Court. A court spokesman said on Wednesday that hearings are to start there starting January 25, but not against the Wolbergs. Its process has been separated. This is exactly what Wolbergs’ lawyer Peter Witting has now sharply criticized. The legal scholar Jan Bockemühl spoke of a “dirty deal” in this context.
A trial date for Wolbergs is not yet known. After the BGH’s decision, the local politician filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe at the beginning of 2022. According to the information, no decision has yet been made about this. The spokesman for the regional court announced on Wednesday that the other two accused had not lodged a constitutional complaint, so that the proceedings should be continued in this respect.
According to Witting, a separation of the procedures contradicts a fair conduct of negotiations and is “a gross foul,” according to Witting. The accused should present themselves in a joint process. He also criticized the lack of transparency.
Witting said that in October 2022 there was a legal discussion between those involved in the proceedings, which he was unable to attend due to illness and that, contrary to his request, it had not been postponed. In addition, there is said to have been a conversation in advance only between the public prosecutor’s office and defense lawyers for the other suspects. In November he learned that the case against his client was being separated and that the other defense attorneys had agreed to come to an understanding.
Bockemühl said that there could be no talk of an agreement here, rather it was a matter of “a really dirty deal”. In view of the advanced stage of the proceedings, such talks would have to be held with all those involved; they belong in the main hearing and “not in a quiet room”. “It’s the opposite of a fair trial.” Among other things, because in this way new participants in the proceedings would be created: the actual co-accused would now become witnesses in the separate proceedings against Wolbergs.
Witting said his client was fighting for an accurate legal assessment and a fair conclusion to the case. Wolbergs himself said at the end of the press conference in Regensburg on Wednesday: “You know that I will never deal.”
