Suspicion of false corona tests: start of trial
Eight and a half months after her arrest, the trial of a family doctor who allegedly issued false health certificates during the coronavirus pandemic has begun at Dresden District Court. The 66-year-old defendant is alleged to have issued more than 1,000 so-called certificates of convenience during the coronavirus pandemic without an examination, according to the prosecution's accusation at the start of the trial on Tuesday. In these certificates, the respective patients are said to have been falsely certified that wearing a face mask would have negative effects for them, that there was an unlimited ban on vaccinations of any kind or that coronavirus tests were only possible via saliva for medical reasons.
Some patients had only bought one certificate, others had bought all three from the defendant, some were said to have provided their whole family with the certificates.
The reading of the indictment, especially the hundreds of patient names, lasted one and a half hours. The defendant is said to have collected a total of around 48,000 euros for the certificates. Collection meetings were held in several federal states.
The start of the trial took place in the high-security court building in the north of Dresden. The district court had moved the trial there because up to 150 supporters of the accused had regularly demonstrated outside the women's prison in Chemnitz against the imprisonment of the 66-year-old. The doctor did not comment on the allegations before the main hearing. According to the public prosecutor's office, the accused described herself as a member of the "indigenous Germanite people", while the doctor is associated with the Reichsbürger scene. The doctor has been in custody since February and already has a criminal record.
After the arraignment, defense attorney Carsten Brunzel from Dresden requested that the trial be suspended. He criticized the fact that a co-defence lawyer had only been excluded from the trial by the Higher Regional Court on Friday because he was also suspected of having had several certificates issued by the accused. A third lawyer had been appointed by the court as a public defender against his will. Brunzel himself also complained that he had not been given sufficient access to the files. The trial is scheduled to continue on November 28, 2023.
The Dresden District Court has initially scheduled 40 trial days until the end of June 2024. A large number of the attestation recipients - the majority from Bavaria, Hesse and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - could be heard as witnesses.
The prosecution argued that the defendant's alleged actions could be considered a form of fraudulent process in issuing false health certificates, which directly links to the crime of deceit during the Corona pandemic. Furthermore, the defense attorney raised concerns about potential biases in the trial due to the exclusion of a co-defense lawyer, suggesting potential issues in upholding fair processes.
Source: www.dpa.com
