HANOVER: A judge said yesterday he plans to cut short the trial of former German president Christian Wulff, citing insufficient proof so far of influence-peddling claims that helped cost Wulff his post.
In an interim assessment on the eighth day of the high-profile trial, presiding judge Frank Rosenow said the bench had not yet heard any “criminally relevant” evidence against the former head of state.
Rosenow of the regional court in the northern city of Hanover said he intends to hear more witnesses, after about 20 had already testified, but planned to end proceedings in January, three months earlier than previously scheduled.
Wulff, 54 — a one-time conservative rising star who quit in a wider political sleaze scandal in February 2012 — is the only post-war German head of state to have faced charges in court.
He has insisted he is innocent of corruption or accepting favours, has declined to settle the case with a fine, and at the start of the trial in mid-November vowed to restore his name and honour. The defence lawyers said they want Wulff and his co-accused fully cleared of all charges, later telling journalists outside court that “state prosecutors have been flogging a dead horse”.
Wulff is accused of having allowed a film producer friend to pay some of his travel expenses during a 2008 Munich visit while he was Lower Saxony state premier, in return for promoting a movie project.
Prosecutors charged that the film industry financier, David Groenewold, 40, paid part of Wulff’s Munich hotel room bill, babysitting costs and a restaurant meal, totalling just over ¤700 (about $960). Wulff was accused of influence-peddling because he later lobbied the then CEO of industrial conglomerate Siemens, Peter Loescher, for support for a Groenewold movie project.
The claim was the only remaining charge prosecutors had levelled against Wulff after initially investigating whether he took favours from other wealthy friends, including luxury holidays and a cheap home loan. AFP
