As of: February 20, 2024, 6:49 p.m
Comments
Press
Split
A vehicle carrying the defendant Christian B. leaves an inner courtyard of the regional court.
© Moritz Frankenberg/dpa
At the request of the defense lawyers of the repeatedly convicted sex offender Christian B., the Braunschweig regional court has excluded a female lay judge from the proceedings against the 47-year-old.
The 2nd Criminal Chamber declared the application to be justified “because there were doubts about the honorary judge’s legal convictions and adherence to the law,” the court announced on Tuesday evening.
Braunschweig - The lay judge is said to have spread a call to kill former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on social media.
At the start of the trial on Friday, Christian B.'s lawyers filed a motion for bias against the honorary judge.
According to the court, an additional female lay judge will now take her place.
The trial against the 47-year-old will continue on Friday (February 23).
The indictment could then be read out, which was originally planned for last Friday (February 16).
Christian B. is accused of three counts of rape and two cases of sexual abuse of children.
The crimes are said to have occurred in Portugal.
The Braunschweig public prosecutor's office is also investigating the 47-year-old on suspicion of murder in the case of Madeleine McCann, known as Maddie, who disappeared from a Portuguese holiday resort in 2007.
The case of the missing three-year-old British girl caused horror around the world.
German investigators believe Maddie is dead, even though her body was never found.
On Friday, the public prosecutor's office had already joined the application for bias against the lay judge.
“The statements are outside our legal system,” said senior public prosecutor Ute Lindemann on the first day of the trial.
A call for murder and manslaughter is something “we will not tolerate here”.
It is being examined whether criminal proceedings will be initiated against the lay judge.
dpa