Green politician Urban condemned: Now an accomplice was on trial - a fine

Created: 01/10/2022, 05:13 PM

After Hans Urban, an accomplice in the Google affair has now been convicted © dpa

In the Google dispute over the Greens politician Hans Urban there is another conviction: His neighbor had to answer for complicity in court.

Wolfratshausen / Eurasburg - The proceedings against the Eurasburg Greens politician Hans Urban, who was sentenced to a fine of 10,500 euros last autumn, had legal consequences for Urban’s neighbors on Monday.

The man (50) was fined 5,000 euros by the Wolfratshausen district court, like the member of the state parliament, for coercion and false suspicion, both of complicity.

Green politician Urban condemned: Now his accomplice was on trial - a fine

The case, which made headlines nationwide, was more than two years ago.

On October 14, 2019, a Google vehicle got lost in the courtyard of the Green politician in Oberherrnhausen during the “map update for Google Maps”, as the driver (27) explained in the hearing on Monday.

When he noticed this and wanted to drive back from the private property, the situation escalated.

The organic farmer prevented the Google employee from leaving the farm by standing in front of the Opel and theatrically falling to the ground several times.

In the further course of the dispute, a son of the farmer and the now accused neighbor blocked the "intruder" with two wheel loaders.

Google driver is said to have hit Green politicians: Urban was convicted

When the police, who had been called by the Google driver and Urban himself, arrived at the farm, the farmer claimed that the young man had knocked him over. The neighbor confirmed this version in an initial testimony on site. In a second interrogation, he revised his observations a little.

In the meantime, the Google employee had been investigated for dangerous bodily harm. However, the proceedings were discontinued after a short time after the recordings from the roof camera and the driver's cell phone video had been evaluated. These little films have now become the defendant's undoing. Its defense attorney explained that his client was working outside at the time and observed that the Google vehicle had driven onto the neighboring property. He saw "the big confrontation scene" and therefore wanted to confront the driver. Did he also see "the fall situation"? Today, two years later, he cannot remember that exactly. In any case, he saw his neighbor Urban lying in front of the Google car. "The conclusion is clear: it was knocked over",said lawyer Mathes Breuer.

District judge pays apology: "Didn't have Mr. Urban in his pants"

The defendant did not comment on the allegations himself, nor did he answer questions.

However, the 50-year-old personally addressed the injured Google driver, to whom he apologized in the courtroom for his behavior.

“You have to give them credit for that.

Mr. Urban didn't have that in his pants, ”emphasized judge Helmut Berger, who assessed the apology as mitigating the penalty.

He found the Eurasburger guilty as charged and sentenced him to 50 daily rates of 100 euros, a total of 5000 euros.

Judgment in the Google affair about Hans Urban - defense attorney: "Punishing someone for this is simply not possible"

After studying the video recordings, the court did not accept that the mechanical engineer had seen with his own eyes what had happened in the neighboring courtyard. On the Google records, which covered the entire site, no one else could be recognized except for the organic farmer and his sons. The defendant only appeared in the picture when he "suddenly came around the corner with the wheel loader" shortly after Urban - as can be seen in the video - had typed something into his mobile phone while standing in front of the Google Opel. "For me, the defendant saw nothing at all, but received some kind of message to come here," presumed magistrate Berger. Urban wanted to teach Google a lesson, says Berger. "And together they wanted to round this whole vermilion."

For the defense, this statement was absurd: "He wanted to describe it as he saw it," emphasized defense attorney Breuer.

"Punishing someone for this is simply not possible." Public prosecutor Thomas Husband had applied for 55 daily rates of 150 euros each (a total of 8,250 euros).

The verdict is not yet legally binding.