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The doctor Aiman O. (pixelated) was acquitted in the transplant scandal in 2015 (archive image)
Photo: Swen Pförtner / dpa
The physician Aiman O. receives financial compensation from the state of Lower Saxony in the amount of 1.16 million euros.
The Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig (OLG) confirmed an identical judgment by the lower court and thus rejected the state's objection.
O. had spent almost the entire year 2013 in custody for investigations into the Göttingen organ donation scandal and was released after paying a bail of 500,000 euros.
Later, however, the former surgeon at the Göttingen University Hospital was acquitted of charges of 11 times attempted manslaughter and triple bodily harm resulting in death in a sensational nationwide trial.
The Federal Court of Justice also saw no criminal behavior on the part of the physician, so the acquittal has been final since 2017.
The transplant specialist had sued the state of Lower Saxony for damages totaling around 1.2 million euros.
The district court of Braunschweig awarded the doctor compensation in the millions last year.
Against this, the country appealed.
80,000 euros for interest damage alone
According to the doctor, almost all of the alleged financial loss resulted from loss of earnings because he missed a well-paid position at a Jordanian hospital with a monthly salary of 50,000 dollars (currently around 42,000 euros) due to his imprisonment.
There was also an item of around 80,000 euros for interest damage because his family had to take out a loan to pay his bail.
According to its own statements, the OLG did not recognize any errors in the taking and assessment of evidence by the lower court in the appeal proceedings, which is why there was no new taking of evidence.
The judges also did not allow a new revision.
The organ donation scandal was about the fact that patients were given preference in the allocation of donor organs by reporting false information to the Eurotransplant coordination office.
Specifically, it was about how long alcoholics treated by O. had already been "dry".
After the scandal at the clinic, the number of organ donors plummeted across the country.
Az. 11 U 149/19
kim / AFP / dpa