Justice officer Daniel Z. has been sentenced to 11 months in prison on probation for forwarding a warrant. The Dresden District Court found the man guilty of breach of official secrets.
In addition, he must do 150 hours of community service. The probationary period is two years. Z. had photographed and distributed the arrest warrant for a suspected refugee after the deadly knife attack of Chemnitz in August 2018. The document also contained other sensitive data, including clear names of witnesses.
The case aroused nationwide attention. Z. confessed the act and stated that he wanted to contribute to the truth. On Wednesday he named as another motive a "false" media coverage. "I made a mistake, I learned from it, my whole life has changed, it will never happen again," he said in court.
Previously, there had been an agreement between the defense and the prosecutor. In return for a confession, the sentence was limited to a probationary period of eight to twelve months and 150 working hours.
Racially motivated act
Prosecutor Susan Herold certified Z. in her plea a racist motive. In a German suspect he would not have passed a warrant, it was said. The defense denied a racist sentiment of her client. However, the court also quoted from a chat of the defendant with colleagues. He had written a few days after the events in Chemnitz by a "Kanacken clapping". The official is suspended from the service. Since the sentence is less than twelve months, but he can not be dismissed from the service without further notice.
The illegally disseminated document appeared on various websites and was published among others by the far-right organization "Pro Chemnitz", an AfD district association and Pegida boss Lutz Bachmann.
Against Z. and other judicial officials is also determined for a different reason. Because of the chat protocol arise in the view of the Dresden prosecutor evidence that the victims have mistreated foreign prisoners. Therefore, on suspicion of assault in office is determined.
