The negative headlines about Halle's suspended mayor, Bernd Wiegand, persisted: The state administration office is now expanding an ongoing procedure against him again.
14 individual allegations are there alone - there is also a possible charge pending in the room.
Halle - For the second time, the state administration has expanded disciplinary proceedings against the mayor of Halle, Bernd Wiegand (non-party), who has been suspended for several months.
This time it is about allegations of violation of "collective bargaining and budgetary regulations," said the authority on Thursday.
The allegations in connection with a personnel matter resulted from an audit by the State Audit Office in 2015. According to the authority, they were only discovered this year after the relevant files were submitted by the city of Halle.
According to the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung", the matter is about the transfer of a "high-ranking employee" Wiegand: After quarrels with Wiegand, she is said to have been offered the transfer under significantly better conditions than usual.
So she was classified significantly higher than the new position intended.
According to the authority, the disciplinary proceedings of the state administrative office against Wiegand now add up to 14 individual allegations.
In addition to the current expansion, there is another personnel issue and Wiegand's premature corona vaccination against the specified vaccination sequence as well as the handling of vaccine residues in the vaccination centers at the beginning of the year.
Public prosecutor's investigations are also ongoing against Wiegand.
By the end of the year, the public prosecutor wants to decide whether charges will be brought against the OB.
Because of his handling of vaccine residue, there is suspicion of "embezzling embezzlement".
Wiegand said of the new allegations that the state administration office is "desperately looking for offenses" on its part.
The authority sees that the arguments do not justify a temporary suspension of service and now wants to follow up with old processes.
"The impression arises that the state administration office wants to examine further alleged allegations - until the term of office has expired," said Wiegand
The State Administration Office decidedly contradicted the accusation. "All the allegations arise from the files, which, moreover, are available for inspection at any time for those involved in the proceedings," said a spokeswoman for the authority. The procedure is carried out objectively and neutrally. "Given the abundance of allegations, a comprehensive collection of evidence is necessary."
Meanwhile, the question arises: How long should the status quo drag on - without a Lord Mayor in Halle?
As early as the spring, the Wiegand city council withdrew the management of official business.
The situation is certainly not ideal for the “city council, the administration and the city as a whole”, but there is no alternative, said city council chairwoman Katja Müller (left).
"The fact that this limbo lasts longer cannot be an argument for not investigating allegations against the mayor and not fully investigating them."
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Wiegand defends himself against his suspension.
An application to lift his provisional dismissal is currently being examined by the state administration office.
The expansion of the procedure is certainly not a good pointer for the OB.
For the assessment, the "extensive allegations" should be included, it said on the part of the state administration office.
dpa
