Suspicion of infidelity against the federal executive committee of the Greens led by Habeck and Baerbock: the public prosecutor is investigating
Created: 2022-01-20 05:18
By: Kai Hartwig
The Berlin public prosecutor's office is investigating the Greens' federal executive committee led by Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
The Greens board is targeted by the Berlin public prosecutor's office - including Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock.
The party responds to the investigation.
Berlin – The Berlin public prosecutor's office has initiated investigations against the entire federal executive board of the Greens*. According to the public prosecutor, the reason for this is controversial Corona* special payments to all employees of the Greens federal office. The federal executive board around Annalena Baerbock* and Robert Habeck* had approved this – and thus also themselves, since the six board members also received the bonus.
The spokesman for the General Prosecutor's Office in Berlin, Martin Steltner, told the
AFP
news agency early on Wednesday evening (January 19) that there was "initial suspicion of infidelity".
“Several ads” from private parties were the reason for investigating the Green party executive.
The mirror
had previously
reported about it.
Greens: Party confirms investigations into “Corona Bonus”
A spokesman for the Greens confirmed the ongoing investigation.
"It's about the involvement of the members of the federal executive board in decisions on the payment of so-called 'corona bonuses', which - as already known - were paid in 2020 to all employees of the federal office and at the same time to the federal executive board," he explained.
The party spokesman confirmed that the board was entitled to make the relevant decisions "from the point of view of all those involved".
Nevertheless, the bonuses have now been repaid by the members of the federal executive board of the Greens.
"The affected board members and the federal office are cooperating fully with the public prosecutor's office in order to clarify the facts quickly and completely," added the Greens spokesman.
Investigations against the Greens board - "Corona bonus" for party leadership around Habeck and Baerbock
All employees of the Greens federal office received the Corona bonus of 1500 euros per person last winter.
He was supposed to compensate for the burdens that arose from working in the home office and the renovation of the building.
Federal Foreign Minister Baerbock and Federal Minister of Economics Habeck are also part of the six-member Federal Executive Committee of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen.
Both are also co-chairs of the Greens.
Other members of the Greens federal board are the two deputy federal chairmen Jamila Schäfer and Ricarda Lang, federal manager Michael Kellner and treasurer Marc Urbatsch.
With the exception of Urbatsch, all board members hold a Bundestag mandate.
For this reason, Parliament first had to be informed before the investigation could be initiated.
According to
Der Spiegel
, this happened back in December.
The Berlin public prosecutor's office is said to have formally initiated the criminal investigation on January 6th.
Green auditors objected to the approval of the corona bonuses by the party executive
The party's internal auditor also objected to the payments.
The Corona bonus was paid to the six members of the federal executive board, among others.
According to the auditors, this was not covered by the internal party regulations.
"In fact, only the 300 euros stipulated in the collective agreement were covered," says the
dpa
in their report.
Instead of the party executive approving the special payments, it would have been better to have them approved by the Federal Finance Council.
In addition to the Federal Treasurer, this body also includes delegates from the Greens state associations.
"Financial arrangements" should "not be made solely by the beneficiaries," the auditors explained.
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