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Jany Tempel: »daily injustice«
Photo: Christian Vierfuss / dpa
It could be Germany's most prominent MeToo case: More than a year ago, the Munich I public prosecutor's office accused director Dieter Wedel of rape allegations.
However, the Munich I Regional Court has still not decided whether to admit the charges.
The alleged victim, actress Jany Tempel, is now taking drastic measures to advance the case.
She criticizes the Munich judiciary and has announced that she will go on hunger strike until a decision has been made on the admission.
"After so many years of daily injustice and permanent mental bodily harm, I am now going on a hunger strike until you finally respond to my and all of our concerns and put an end to this permanent re-traumatization," says the actress' homepage, from which a link leads to a live stream on YouTube.
Tempel alleges that Wedel forced her to have sex in a Munich hotel in the summer of 1996 when she was auditioning for a role.
She was 27 at the time, Wedel over 50. According to the public prosecutor, the 20-page indictment for rape lists more than 20 witnesses, an expert and calendar entries as evidence.
Wedel denies the allegations.
His lawyers spoke of prejudice and emphasized the likelihood that the indictment could not be admitted - although that is very rare in the German judiciary.
The presumption of innocence applies to Wedel until a final decision in the criminal proceedings.
Notice of delay unsuccessful
The actress' lawyer, Alexander Stevens, has not yet commented on his client's action, which was initially reported by the "Bild" newspaper.
However, he had already sharply criticized the long duration of the procedure several times and wrote an official complaint about the delay in May.
"With regard to the excessively long duration of the proceedings, it must also be taken into account that the prosecutor's charge is a case of serious crime, which burdens my client considerably," Stevens wrote at the time.
Tempel, who is appearing as a joint plaintiff in the proceedings, is suffering "very much from the length of the proceedings," writes Stevens.
You were "numerous material and immaterial damage incurred".
He applied for “the main proceedings to be opened and dates for the main hearing to be set promptly”.
The competent chamber is still busy examining the approval, a spokesman for the Munich I Regional Court said after the complaint about the delay in May.
The decision should be made shortly.
In detention cases, there is an expeditious rule that states that the judiciary must do everything possible to start the main proceedings as quickly as possible.
But Wedel is not in custody.
The allegations against him became known in early 2018.
At that time, three actresses accused Wedel in "Zeit Magazin" of sexually harassing them in the 1990s.
The case became the most well-known in the German #MeToo debate that started in 2017.
Under the hashtag #MeToo, millions of women in particular posted their experiences of sexual assault on social networks.
apr/dpa
