Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) – The Stuttgart district court has approved the charges against the suspended Baden-Württemberg police inspector for sexual assault. This puts the man on trial. Dates for the main hearing would now be coordinated, said a spokesman for the court on Wednesday. The country’s highest-ranking police officer denies the allegations.
According to the investigation, he is said to have sexually harassed a police officer in Stuttgart about a year ago – in return for career advantages. According to earlier information, the public prosecutor’s office accuses him of “knowingly exploiting the fact that, due to his professional position, he was able to cause the police officer considerable professional disadvantages in the event of resistance”.
His lawyer Jens Rabe had announced that he would fight for an acquittal. It is regrettable that the public prosecutor’s office brought charges at all “with this evidence situation”.
Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU) has also been under pressure because of the matter for a long time – according to his own statements, he had passed on a letter from the inspector’s lawyer to a journalist. A committee of inquiry in the state parliament sheds light on sexual harassment by the police, as well as the practice of promotion and Strobl’s actions.
