Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, close to Vladimir Putin, is targeted in Germany by a complaint for "
crimes against humanity
", justice said on Tuesday March 8.
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The public prosecutor's office in Hanover confirmed to AFP that it had received and forwarded this complaint against several people, including Gerhard Schröder, to the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe.
Competent for these subjects, it must now decide whether or not to open an investigation which could lead to the indictment of Gerhard Schröder or to a dismissal.
The former social-democratic chancellor (1998-2005) has been widely criticized in recent weeks because of his links with the Russian president, who decided on the invasion of Ukraine.
Aged 77, Gerhard Schröder has long displayed his closeness to Vladimir Putin.
He is chairman of the supervisory board of Rosneft, the leading Russian oil group, and of the shareholder committee of Nord Stream 2, a controversial Russian-German gas pipeline.
He should in principle join the supervisory board of the Russian giant Gazprom in June.
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Current Chancellor Olaf Scholz last week called on Gerhard Schröder, several of whom have already recently left their posts, to resign from these posts.
"
I don't think it's right for Gerhard Schröder to exercise these functions and I also think it would be right for him to step
down," Olaf Scholz said on the public broadcaster ZDF.
Gerhard Schröder, unlike other former European leaders such as the Frenchman François Fillon or the Italian Matteo Renzi, refuses at this stage to leave his post in Russia.
Voices have also been raised in recent weeks in Germany for the benefits he enjoys as former chancellor to be removed.
