Pesticide trial in South Tyrol: Member of the Bundestag Karl Bär acquitted
Created: 05/16/2022, 09:14
By: Sandra Hefft
The process ended well for Karl Bär.
© Jörg Farys
Holzkirchen – The Bolzano regional court has acquitted the Holzkirchner Greens member of the Bundestag Karl Bär of all allegations in the South Tyrolean pesticide trial.
In a statement on the outcome of the pesticide trial in South Tyrol, Green Party member of the Bundestag Karl Bär wrote that it was a victory for freedom of expression.
In the summer of 2017, Karl Bär and the Munich Environmental Institute criticized the use of pesticides on South Tyrolean apple orchards in a poster campaign.
Under the title "Pesticide Tyrol", the educational campaign was based on the official South Tyrolean advertisement.
This resulted in charges against Bär and the institute for defamation and counterfeiting.
Bär is an employee of the Munich Environmental Institute who is currently on leave for the Bundestag mandate.
However, since all charges against the member of the Bundestag from Holzkirchen had already been withdrawn in January, the Bolzano public prosecutor's office has now applied for the charges to be changed, which means that the allegation of counterfeiting has also become invalid.
Karl Baer and the Munich Environmental Institute are thus acquitted.
“South Tyrol has a pesticide problem.
The high use of chemicals in apple cultivation harms the environment and the people in the area,” comments Bär.
"The state government's attempt to legally prevent criticism of the use of pesticides has failed." The court acquitted Bär after all of the original 1,376 plaintiffs had withdrawn their criminal charges under international public pressure.
Actually, the allegation of counterfeiting would have persisted even after the ads were withdrawn.
"In October 2020, the Council of Europe classified the lawsuits against my client in South Tyrol as a strategic lawsuit and thus as an attack on freedom of expression," says lawyer Nicola Canestrini, who represented Karl Bär together with lawyer Francesca Cancellaro.
"Today we also have the confirmation of this from the court." The verdict must be a warning to all powerful individuals and companies not to continue to abuse the judiciary to intimidate critics with time-consuming and costly court proceedings, says Canestrini.
"I would like to thank everyone who has supported me in this process with energy, solidarity and money, especially the Munich Environmental Institute," says Bär, relieved.
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