Kretschmann: Data protection report on Strobl without comment

Created: 05/25/2022, 13:03

Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.

© Bernd Weißbrod/dpa/archive image

Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann still does not want to comment on the expert opinion of the top data protection officer on the affair about the disclosure of a lawyer's letter to the press by Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU).

A spokeswoman for the State Ministry said on Wednesday in Stuttgart that the statement by the state data protection officer Stefan Brink covered the same facts as the regulatory procedure that was not completed.

Stuttgart - Therefore, "against the background of the ongoing criminal investigations, it remains the case that the Prime Minister will not comment on the matter".

Brink had stated in his statement, which the SPD had requested from him, that Strobl had broken the law by passing on a letter from the lawyer of a high-ranking police officer.

SPD faction leader Andreas Stoch considers Kretschmann's attitude to be a "cheap defense strategy".

Brink has completed his legal examination for the state parliament.

"Of course, a prime minister can and must give an opinion on this," Stoch told the dpa.

On Tuesday afternoon, Kretschmann had stated that he did not have the letter, although Stoch had already forwarded it to the state ministry on Monday evening.

In addition, the head of government was irritated by the actions of the data protection officer.

He is surprised that Brink did not listen to the minister.

Brink and the SPD parliamentary group disagreed.

The data protection officer told the “Badisches Tagblatt” that he had submitted the statement “as part of our duty to advise the state parliament”, since the state has no right to be heard.

However, he had opened a supervisory procedure, and of course all those affected would be heard.

dpa