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The headquarters of the new 6th Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) in Leipzig.
© Peter Endig/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa
A police union member leaks official secrets to a journalist because he wants to denounce “abuses.”
According to a ruling by the Federal Court of Justice, he is facing another trial.
Leipzig/Lübeck - A former police union member from Schleswig-Holstein has to go back to court for revealing official secrets.
On Thursday, the Federal Court of Justice in Leipzig partially overturned an initial ruling by the Lübeck Regional Court from October 2022 (ref.: 5 StR 283/23).
In particular, another criminal chamber should re-examine and decide on the cases in which the man was acquitted at the time.
The amount of the penalty and some other legal questions also have to be decided again.
The former deputy head of a police union had confessed to having passed on official and private secrets to a journalist friend on several occasions.
He wanted to make public “abuses” in police leadership.
The Lübeck regional court had sentenced him to a fine of 330 daily rates of 40 euros each for betraying secrets.
He was acquitted in four of the accused cases.
Both the public prosecutor's office and the defendant had filed appeals against the verdict, which have now been decided by the 5th Criminal Senate of the Federal Court of Justice.
At that time, the public prosecutor's office had demanded a suspended prison sentence instead of a fine.
The defendant's defense had argued for a lower sentence.
The prosecution's appeal was far more successful than that of the defendant.
The regional court should now primarily examine whether the police officer was guilty of violating official secrecy in more cases than assumed in the first judgment.
According to the 5th Criminal Senate, an indirect threat to important public interests is sufficient.
The police officer had a prominent position and he repeatedly passed on information to the journalist.
During the oral hearing in Leipzig, the police officer's defense attorney tried to prevent a new trial in Lübeck.
His mandate “made peace” with the first verdict, said lawyer Wolf-Rüdiger Molkentin.
The police officer took responsibility for his actions and also expressed regret that it could come to this.
Molkentin suggested that the 5th Criminal Senate of the BGH decide directly on the amount of the punishment - without a new trial.
However, the federal judges did not follow this.
Disciplinary proceedings are still ongoing against the police commissioner.
When asked, the Interior Ministry in Kiel announced that the proceedings had been suspended for the duration of the criminal trial.
The officer has been temporarily relieved of duty.
dpa