State Secretary - Debate about chats in the Samadzade case
The Internal and Legal Affairs Committee of the Schleswig-Holstein State Parliament dealt with the case of dismissed Integration State Secretary Marjam Samadzade regarding allegedly missing chat messages, during a session on Wednesday. Representatives of SPD, FDP, and SSW criticized in the meeting that the state government might have screenshots of chat messages between Samadzade and Integration Minister Aminata Touré (Greens), which Touré claimed had been deleted.
Samadzade informed the committee that she still possessed the chats and the authorized representative of the state government had been informed about it through her lawyer. The committee had requested the release of the entire electronic communication between Touré and Samadzade. Samadzade expressed her surprise that no one had asked her if she still had the chats and stated:
Before she handed over the chats to the committee, she needed assurance that she would not suffer any legal consequences. However, representatives from the Chancellery and the Social Ministry could not provide such assurance. Therefore, Samadzade finally decided not to disclose the chats after a nearly three-hour debate about this issue.
Touré had previously defended Samadzade's dismissal following the dissemination of an Israel-critical post. Samadzade had repeatedly shown a lack of political sensitivity.
Samadzade, according to Touré's statements, had shared a post on Instagram on October 17, 2023, criticizing and condemning the Israeli government's actions following a Hamas terrorist attack. Two days later, Touré announced that Silke Schiller-Tobies would succeed Samadzade as State Secretary on November 1. Touré only disclosed that the State Secretary had to leave earlier due to a post on October 25.
The FDP accused Touré of not fully answering a parliamentary question concerning the reasons for Samadzade's premature departure. The ministry replied to the parliamentary question on October 20, 2023, stating only that "Federal State Secretary Marjam Samadzade has declared her desire to leave her position as Federal State Secretary and return to her position at the Hamburg Justice Authority." This was three days after the post.
- The Legal Committee of Schleswig-Holstein Parliament discussed the case of SPD's Marjam Samadzade, who was dismissed, with allegations of missing chat messages.
- Aminata Touré, an Integration Minister from the Greens party, was also involved in these chat messages, as claimed by FDP and SPD representatives during the Parliament session in Schleswig-Holstein.
- The SPD, FDP, and SSW were critical about potential screenshots of chat messages between Samadzade and Touré, as the state government allegedly claimed to possess, but had not released them yet.
- The Domestic policy and Justice departments of Schleswig-Holstein Parliament were also involved in the debate, as they sought assurance from Samadzade to avoid any legal consequences before releasing the chat messages.
