The Berlin public prosecutor’s office is investigating the six-member federal executive committee of the Greens, including the two party leaders Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock. A spokesman for the Greens told the Tagesspiegel, confirming a report by the news magazine Der Spiegel.
According to the report, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating the party leadership on suspicion of infidelity to the detriment of their own party. The background to this is allegedly illegal special corona payments of 1,500 euros each, which the board members received from their party in 2020.
At that time, all employees of the federal office received the same amount of this bonus. It is disputed whether the federal executive board was allowed to approve the bonus itself.
“The federal executive board is the supreme executive body and was therefore legitimate from the point of view of all those involved to take appropriate decisions,” said a spokesman for the Greens. The members of the federal executive board have since repaid the corona bonus.
In fact, the Greens have been in trouble for months because of the extra payments. During the election campaign, chancellor candidate Baerbock had to justify this payment and three other extra payments in the form of Christmas bonuses. As she had to admit in May, she was late in reporting this additional income from the years 2018 to 2020 to the Bundestag administration.
The case, which involved a total of around 25,000 euros, attracted more media attention. Baerbock then apologized and spoke of a “mistake”. She “didn’t have the extra money on the screen”. In the course of this reporting, the criminal charges were apparently also filed.
As the “Spiegel” further reports, the investigations of the public prosecutor’s office were initiated by several private individuals after criminal complaints. In addition to Economics Minister Habeck and Foreign Minister Baerbock, investigations are also underway against the two deputy chairmen, Ricarda Lang and Jamila Schäfer, as well as federal manager Michael Kellner and treasurer Marc Urbatsch.
The board of directors will be re-elected in a few days
Since all board members except for Urbatsch are now members of the German Bundestag, the public prosecutor’s office had to apply to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) to have the immunity lifted. According to “Spiegel”, this should have happened in December.
A party spokesman confirmed the process to the Tagesspiegel: “The affected board members and the federal office are cooperating fully with the public prosecutor’s office in order to clarify the facts quickly and completely.”
The Federal Executive Committee of the Greens will be re-elected in a few days. Because of their ministerial posts, Baerbock and Habeck are no longer allowed to run for party chairmanship, and waiters and shepherds are also no longer standing.
Urbatsch, on the other hand, is aiming to be re-elected treasurer for a two-year term. Ricarda Lang would like to be elected as the new party leader at the digital party conference on January 28th and 29th. The chances of the 28-year-old are good, so far there is no counter-candidate.
Source From: Tagesspiegel
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