Harassment allegation: opposition calls for Strobl's resignation
Created: 05/04/2022Updated: 05/04/2022 12:13 p.m
Thomas Strobl (CDU), Interior Minister of Baden-Württemberg.
© Marijan Murat/dpa
As if the sex scandal involving a high-ranking police officer wasn't embarrassing enough: the minister now has to admit that he sent an internal letter from a lawyer to the press.
The SPD, FDP and AfD no longer consider Strobl to be sustainable.
Stuttgart - The opposition is calling for the resignation of Interior Minister Thomas Strobl in connection with allegations of harassment against a high-ranking police officer.
The CDU politician admitted on Wednesday in the non-public meeting of the interior committee that he himself had given the press a letter from the police officer's lawyer, the SPD, FDP and AfD said in Stuttgart.
Strobl then stopped the public prosecutor's investigation into the publication.
That was a "scandalous process," said SPD faction leader Andreas Stoch.
Should the 62-year-old Strobl not resign, the SPD and FDP may want to set up a committee of inquiry.
The minister, who is also the head of the CDU state, passed on official secrets in the case, violated his duty of care as an employer and violated data protection, Stoch said.
Strobl also initially lied to the public about passing on the letter.
"This minister must resign from office." He has lost all authority, the opposition leader said.
FDP parliamentary group leader Hans-Ulrich Rülke added: "With the abysses that open up, this minister can no longer remain in office."
"This is a fundamental attack on the rule of law by the constitutional minister." If Strobl does not resign, he will force the opposition to fully investigate his behavior with a committee of inquiry.
The public prosecutor's office has been investigating suspected sexual harassment against a leading police officer in Baden-Württemberg since November.
The man is said to have harassed a chief inspector in a video chat with his ideas about sexual practices.
Because the letter from a lawyer from the accused police officer to the Ministry of the Interior became public, the public prosecutor's office also became active in the matter.
The Ministry of the Interior then admitted that it had made the letter public "in coordination with the top management to a single journalist".
In the letter, the lawyer is said to have asked the ministry for a clarifying discussion.
Stoch criticized that if Strobl saw the letter as an attempt at blackmail, then he should not have given it to a journalist, but to the public prosecutor.
His colleague Rülke suspected that Strobl took the blame for passing the document on to the press in order to be able to stop the public prosecutor's investigation.
The minister obviously wanted to prevent further things from coming to light.
more on the subject
Police sex scandal: Minister Strobl under massive pressure
Kretschmann does not want to evaluate the anger about the lawyer's letter
Police sex scandal: Strobl stops investigations
The SPD indicated that Strobl himself might have broken the law.
After all, anyone who discloses an official secret without justification and thereby endangers important public interests can be punished with up to five years in prison or a fine.
The AfD explained that the Ministry of the Interior had unilaterally charged the high-ranking police officer with the public statement of a "suspicion of fraud".
Like the SPD and FDP, the AfD deputy Hans-Jürgen Goßner also said that Strobl was no longer suitable for continuing this procedure because of the violation of fundamental principles of a disciplinary procedure and had to hand it over to an objective body.
"In the opinion of the AfD, Minister Strobl is no longer acceptable." dpa
