"Pesticide Tyrol": Acquittal for Holzkirchner Green MP Karl Bär
Created: 05/06/2022Updated: 05/06/2022 16:07
By: Katrin Hager
Last appearance in court: Karl Bär (front 2nd from left), here during one of the last days of the trial in Bozen, was also acquitted of the charge of counterfeiting on the sixth day of the trial on Friday.
© Archive of the Munich Environmental Institute
The Greens member of the Bundestag Karl Bär from Holzkirchen is relieved of a burden: on Friday the regional court in Bolzano acquitted him in the "Pesticide Tyrol" trial.
Bozen/Holzkirchen
– Karl Bär's relief is noticeable: "I have been acquitted," said the 37-year-old member of the Bundestag for the Greens on Friday afternoon on the phone when asked.
Since October 2020, the Holzkirchner had had to answer to the Bozen Regional Court in a criminal case after 1,376 farmers in South Tyrol reported him in a concerted action for defamation and counterfeiting because Bär, as a consultant for trade and agricultural policy at the Munich Environmental Institute, was involved with the provocative campaign "Pestizidtirol" had denounced the use of pesticides in apple cultivation in South Tyrol.
The ads for defamation had all been withdrawn on previous days of the trial, only the trademark infringement was not off the table.
But even that was finally lapsed on Friday: the public prosecutor found that the environmental institute had not acted in the interests of business and that the alleged trademark infringement was therefore not prosecutable, explains Bär.
Like his defense, the public prosecutor's office therefore applied to the court on Friday to declare the proceedings inadmissible.
"It will still be a few days before the verdict is final," says Bär, "but since the public prosecutor's office had requested exactly that, it cannot be assumed that they will take action against it."
"We're glad it's over"
He and his former colleagues at the environmental institute are satisfied.
"We're glad that's over - the work and the legal threat for me," says Holzkirchner.
The process with several days of negotiations, the journey and the lawyers cost time, money and strength.
In the end, however, it was "a victory for freedom of expression," says Bär.
He saw the lawsuit brought against him as a lawsuit against intimidation (SLAPP) intended to silence critics who feared expensive court costs.
What surprises Bär: There was no further public debate in South Tyrol after the last of the plaintiffs testified on the witness stand in January that he had been pressured by Landesrat (the equivalent of a minister) Arnold Schuler and the farmers' association to report Bär.
"Apparently this didn't surprise anyone."
Environmental institute is still evaluating documents
The announced dialogue between the environmental institute and the organization of the South Tyrolean apple growers has not yet started.
The evaluation of the documents from fruit growers, which the environmental institute received as process files and in which the actual use of pesticides is documented, is still ongoing, Bär reports.
He passed this on to colleagues after he has not worked for the environmental institute since he became a member of the Bundestag.
Immediately after the acquittal, the member of the Bundestag from Germany was a sought-after interview partner.
On Friday evening Bär wanted to celebrate the success in court with pizza and vino with his former colleagues before he wanted to start his journey home on Saturday morning to take part in the panel discussion at the market square at 3.30 p.m.
"I can say what I said"
Bär says he's glad he didn't back down.
"I can say what I said because it's true: South Tyrol has a pesticide problem."
