State government - Investigations for government appointments set in motion
The accusations of the opposition in the State Secretariat affair were massive, now the Public Prosecutor's Office Erfurt has discontinued investigations against the Thuringian State Government. This is evident from a letter of the authority, which is available to the German Press Agency (dpa).
The investigations focused on the suspicion that Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) or the ministers of his cabinet could have committed embezzlement to the detriment of the state when they appointed secretaries of state who allegedly did not have sufficient qualifications for these offices. According to dpa information, the procedure was terminated because no criminally relevant actions were identified. Further investigations into the appointment of, for example, administrative head positions or other leadership positions are still ongoing.
Relieved reaction
Ramelow reacted relieved. "There is no indication of criminal relevance," he told the dpa in Erfurt. There was no serious breach of duty and no embezzlement.
The starting point for the investigations was an audit report of the Thuringian Court of Auditors on the personnel policy of the red-red-coalition Thuringian government. In it, among other things, it is criticized that the best candidates were not considered when hiring approximately for secretaries of state and documentation obligations were violated. The Thuringian Court of Auditors accuses the government of systematic and serious violations of rules for the appointment of civil servants.
Investigations were limited to criminal questions
A spokesman for the Public Prosecutor's Office Erfurt confirmed the discontinuation of the investigations. At the same time, he emphasized that the investigations of the authority were exclusively limited to criminal questions. The criticized breaches of duty were, with regard to their overall assessment, not serious enough "to justify a finding of guilt for embezzlement in the individual case," he said.
Beyond the criminal law, it is to be judged at the administrative courts in Thuringia whether the government correctly or incorrectly applied Thuringian Civil Service Law and other administrative and civil service regulatory provisions.
Ramelow calls criteria lifeless
Ramelow and his State Chancellor Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (Left) acknowledged oversights in terms of documentation obligations, but rejected the core accusations. The government adhered to a different legal opinion than the Court of Auditors.
The opposition attacked the government with the topic, an investigative committee dealt with the allegations. Thuringia's FDP group leader Thomas Kemmerich now announced that they would take note of the decision of the Public Prosecutor's Office with respect. "Even if the actions of the Ramelow government in this specific case were not criminal, it morally failed."
Ramelow confirmed that it was unreasonable if state secretaries had to fulfill all civil service requirements in every detail, such as age. It had been an "unusual assessment" of the Court of Auditors, also with regard to the practice of other state governments and the federal government, said Ramelow.
General misconduct over years
From the discontinuation decision of the Public Prosecutor's Office Erfurt, which is available to the dpa, it can be inferred that the public prosecutors also saw indications that the state government had not worked completely cleanly when appointing state secretaries - which, in turn, also ensures that the initial suspicion of embezzlement from the perspective of the authority did not materialize.
After the implementation of a new Thuringian Civil Service Law on January 1, 2015, the Ramelow Cabinet failed to issue regulations requiring that other applicants, in addition to those ultimately selected, be considered for the position of State Secretaries, according to the resolution. However, this behavior is described in the resolution as a "general negligence" that preceded the appointment of individual State Secretaries.
No serious breach of duty
This suggests that there was not arbitrary behavior in the appointment of individual State Secretaries. Although the appointments of some may not have been understandable, and some appeared to be "partly in violation of administrative law" from a legal perspective.
"A serious breach of duty, which requires the judiciary to fulfill the objective elements of embezzlement and must be reflected in each individual appointment decision, does not occur in this way," the resolution states.
It is currently unclear when the investigative proceedings regarding the appointment of bureaucrats and personal referents will be concluded, according to the spokesperson.
- The regional government in Thuringia, led by Bodo Ramelow, faced accusations of embezzlement related to the appointment of secretaries of state with insufficient qualifications, but the investigation committee from the Public Prosecutor's Office in Erfurt concluded that no criminally relevant actions were identified.
- The discontinuation of investigations by the Public Prosecutor's Office in Erfurt was confirmed, and it was clarified that the authority's inquiry was limited to criminal questions.
- Bodo Ramelow, the Thuringian Prime Minister, reacted relieved, stating that there was no indication of criminal relevance and no embezzlement in the matter.
- The German Press Agency (dpa) reported that the Thuringian Court of Auditors accused the government of systematic and serious violations of rules for the appointment of civil servants in an audit report.
- The Public Prosecutor's Office Erfurt acknowledged indications of general negligence in the appointment of state secretaries by the Ramelow Cabinet, but there was no evidence of a serious breach of duty or arbitrary behavior in individual appointments.
