Processes - Trial over ammunition affair at LKA Saxony suspended
In the process of a munitions scandal at the Landeskriminalamt Sachsen (LKA), the main hearing has been postponed. The court announced this on Tuesday, with a new start planned for November. No reasons were given initially. The decision time also remained unclear. The public was excluded from the trial at its onset in late April, even before the indictment was read. The Criminal Chamber granted the requests of two defense attorneys and the General Public Prosecutor's Office in Dresden and recognized security concerns. The court had scheduled 42 court days up to November.
In this trial, three former members of the Mobile Operations Command (MEK) Dresden must account for their actions regarding bribery in conjunction with theft, as well as unauthorized acquisition and possession of licensed ammunition. In early 2021, it was discovered that an LKA operations command participated in a shooting training at a private shooting range in Güstrow without permission and paid for it with at least 7,000 rounds of ammunition from their own stock. An additional 7,500 rounds were stolen to attend the training. 17 officers were implicated. The three currently accused individuals are considered the main suspects and have been suspended from duty since then. The rest were transferred to other departments. The command was disbanded and is currently being rebuilt.
At the instigation of the Interior Ministry, an expert commission had examined the case previously. They identified significant deficiencies in the organizational structure and supervision, which facilitated the situation. The contacts of the officers to the extreme right-wing scene could not be confirmed. The shooting range in Güstrow was in the focus of investigations against the group "Nordkreuz" - behind which lies a supposedly extreme right-wing preparatory group.
The munitions affair caused headlines and led to personnel consequences. The respected LKA chief Petric Kleine and LKA department head Sven Mewes had to step down and were transferred. The sum of scandals eventually led to increasing pressure on Interior Minister Roland Wöller (CDU), who was dismissed in April 2022. Shortly before that, it was discovered that the MEK Dresden had declared a ski vacation at a four-star hotel as a "continuing education trip." Another affair involved corruption allegations against the police in Leipzig. The MEK Leipzig made headlines due to a prohibited admission ritual.
- The main hearing for the police officers involved in the Ammunition affair at LKA Saxony, originally scheduled for November, has been postponed, without specifying the reasons or a new date.
- Three former members of the Mobile task force in Dresden are charged with bribery, theft, unauthorized acquisition, and possession of licensed ammunition.
- The shooting training at a private range in Güstrow, attended by an LKA operations command without permission and paid for with stolen ammunition, is a key focus in this trial.
- The LKA Saxony's chief, Petric Kleine, and department head, Sven Mewes, stepped down due to the increasingly publicized Ammunition affair and another scandal involving the police in Leipzig.
- The Ammunition affair, along with several other scandals, resulted in the dismissal of Interior Minister Roland Wöller in April 2022.
