Schlesinger trial: defence accuses prosecutors of one-sidedness
At the start of the trial against former RBB director Patricia Schlesinger, the defence has sharply criticised the investigation by the public prosecutor's office. It accuses the prosecution of failing to work objectively and of ignoring exculpatory circumstances.
RBB scandal in court: defence attacks investigation
According to n-tv, the defence of former RBB director Patricia Schlesinger sharply criticised the public prosecutor's office at the start of proceedings at the Berlin Regional Court. Schlesinger's lawyer Oliver Sahan accused the prosecutors of conducting the investigation "not with the necessary objectivity". Exculpatory circumstances had not been taken into account, Sahan explained. "This is a deliberate one-sidedness that leaves one in lasting astonishment," the defence lawyer continued.
The prosecution accuses Schlesinger and three other former senior members of the ARD broadcaster of causing damage to the station totalling approximately 1.7 million euros. The case centres on an allegedly established remuneration and allowance system from which the defendants are said to have profited without legitimate grounds. In addition, the prosecution accuses Schlesinger of billing private expenses.
"Central assumptions of the prosecution are based on speculation," Sahan emphasised. The defence would prove in the trial that Schlesinger had been wrongly accused. "We firmly reject the allegations," the lawyer declared. Schlesinger herself did not initially comment during the trial.
Senior public prosecutor Judith Kohlstedt-Mansouri argued during the reading of charges that Schlesinger and the former chairman of the RBB supervisory board had deliberately used variable remuneration as a source of income. The beneficiaries had not provided corresponding additional performance. Furthermore, the defendants were aware that they were thereby "effectively circumventing" the supervisory board's monitoring obligations.
Sahan, by contrast, stated that the variable remuneration system had already existed since 2005. Under Schlesinger, it had merely been extended to managers. The reform had served the RBB through concrete business objectives and efficiency incentives. There could be no question of concealment — the reform had been communicated openly to the supervisory board.
Schlesinger faces 26 counts of breach of trust. The other three defendants — the former administrative director, the former legal director and the former supervisory board chairman — must each answer to between 5 and 13 allegations. Some parts of the prosecution's case have been classified as particularly serious, as they are said to have been committed on a commercial basis or to have caused particularly high damage.
Source: n-tv