The statement of the Schröder lawyers in the wording

Created: 08/12/2022Updated: 08/12/2022 07:02

Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has been under fire for months over his ties to Russian energy companies and his close ties to Russian President Putin.

© Olivier Hoslet/epa/dpa

Gerhard Schröder wants his privileges back.

His lawyers explain: The decision to withdraw the former chancellor's special rights is reminiscent of an "absolutist princely state".

Hanover/Berlin - Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) has filed a lawsuit against the Bundestag with the Berlin Administrative Court.

In it he demands that he be given back a former chancellor's office with staff, which he had been deprived of in May.

Below is the wording of the statement by the law firm commissioned by Schröder:

"In May 2022, on the recommendation of the budget committee, the German Bundestag decided to appoint former Chancellor

D. Gerhard Schröder to cut the funds for equipping his office in the German Bundestag and to put the office on hold.

This decision is illegal.

We have therefore filed a lawsuit with the administrative court in Berlin.

We are only making this one statement in the hope that the legal issues raised will only be discussed in court and not via the media, also in the interests of the defendants.

Those responsible determined new rules to legitimize the now contested decision.

However, clarifying the underlying facts in advance, at least according to their own new standards, was not worth the effort.

Instead, it is claimed that former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder no longer takes on the so-called "after-effects of official duties".

However, it is not specified what "long-term official duties" actually are, how their perception or non-perception is to be determined and what procedure is otherwise to be followed.

The whole process is written on the forehead that other reasons than those given by the "new rules" were decisive for the decision of the budget committee.

Decisions of this kind, which in terms of the way they were made are more reminiscent of an absolutist princely state, must not endure in a democratic constitutional state.

The decision is arbitrary.

Their mere acceptance and unchecked acceptance cannot be considered.

Former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was not given the opportunity to comment before the decision was made, nor was he given any other legal hearing.

The procedure must finally be conducted according to the principles of the rule of law and the matter then decided by the court if necessary.

Communication via the media, which has characterized the previous procedure, should therefore no longer take place until the administrative court has decided on the matter.” dpa